LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF 
C  MIFOKNIA 

SAN  DIEGO 


A   ROMANCE 

/-  /—  ^ 


or 

/C/  ..-,/• 

f  v^,r>-    '^' 

C^^>W^<.   A--  ^--5    /. 


THE   FASHIONABLE  WORLD. 


BY 

EUGENE  BATCHELDER. 


BOSTON: 
JAMES    FRENCH    &    COMPANY. 

GALESBURG,    ILL.: 
HASTINGS   AND    FKENCH. 

1857. 


Entered  according  to  Art  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1857,  by 

EUGENE  BATCHELDER, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Massachusetts. 


Stereotyped  bj 

HOBART  i  BOBBINS, 

New  England  Tjpe  ami  Stereotype  Fooodery, 


IS   VERY   RESPECTFULLY   DEDICATED 
TO 

WILLIAM     EDGAR,     ESQ., 

AND  THE  GENTLEMEN   OF 

THE  NEW  YORK  YACHT  SQUADRON. 


PREFACE. 


"  I  fear  these  stubborn  lines  lack  power  to  move  ;" 

Love's  Labor's  Lost,  Act  IV.,  Scene  3. 

I. 

IN  serpentine  mazes  this  story  will  stray, 
To  scare  you  by  night,  and  alarm  you  by  day ; 
If  you  read  it  at  eve,  when  the  bat  slowly  flits, 
It  may  possibly  frighten  you  out  of  your  wits, 
And,   unless   you've   strong  nerves,  just   throw 

down  the  book, 
And  never  once  dare  in  its  pages  to  look. 

I  promise  you  here,  and  I  give  you  my  word, 
That  though  some  of  the  scenes  may  seem  vastly 

absurd, 
And  you  smile,  —  but   perhaps  in  the  midst  of 

your  grin, 


6  PREFACE. 

If  you're   fishing,  his  snakeship  will  just   take 

you  in ; 

Or  perchance,  sitting  safe  on  a  sea-beaten  rock, 
And  of  such  beasts  as   Sea-Serpents   making  a 

moc"k, 

And  telling  the  ladies  who  sit  by  your  side 
That  o'er  the  blue  waves  you  have  sailed  far  and 

wide, 

Full  many  strange  eights  in  the  ocean  have  seen,  — 
"But  Sea-Serpents,  — bless  me  !  I'm  not  quite 

so  green ! 

Pontoppidan,1  skippers,  may  say  what  they  please  ; 
When  they  prove  it,  I  '11  own  that  the  moon  is  green 

cheese,"  — 

Then  just  starting  up  from  that  wave  rolling  in, 
You  see  first  the  back  and  then  a  great  fin. 
0  horror  of  horrors  !  with  red  glaring  eyes, 
His  head  and  some  yards  of  his  body  will  rise, 
And  seize  you,  and  shake  you,  his  fangs  taste  your 

gore, 

While  you  shriek,  and  the  aid  of  the  ladies  im 
plore, 

And  convulsively  grasp  at  the  rocks  and  the  shore ; 
But  he 's  got  you ;  with  joy  he  is  wagging  his  tail ; 
He  holds  you  aloft :  the  ladies,  all  pale, 


PREFACE.  7 

Are  fainting  and  screaming,  and  tearing  their  hair ; 
Your  sister  sits  mute  in  an  utter  despair ; 
Pair  Fanny  is  lying  quite  cold  on  the  rock, 
And  Mary,  so  sudden  and  dreadful  the  shock, 
Has  gone  off  in  hysterics,  while  Alice  the  gay, 
Half  frightened  to  death,  is  running  away. 

II. 

A  moment,  —  he  's  gone  !     Deep,  deep  'neath  the 

wave, 

He  will  dine  on  you  safe  in  his  pearl-spangled  cave, 
While  the  lady  you  loved,  and  who  sat  by  your  side, 
Has  plunged  from  the  rock  and  sunk  'neath  the  tide. 

I  told  you,  dear  reader,  how  shocking  't  would  be, 
But  that 's  nothing  to  what  you  will  by  and  by  see. 
I  don't  like  to  be  horrid,  but,  somehow  or  other, 
I  'm  convinced  that  this  serpent  is  more  than  half- 
brother 

To  a  person  whom  I  for  the  world  would  not  men 
tion, 

Though  I  own  in  the  last  line  that  was  my  inten 
tion; 

Yet  perhaps  he  is  not,  but  still  I  believe 
That  the  serpent  who  humbugged  our  good  mother 
Eve 


8  PREFACE. 

Was  at  least  second-cousin  to  this  one,  and  he, 
I  fear,  was  n't  much  better  than  such  beasts  should 
be. 

in. 

If  you  dare  to  go  down  to  the  beach  all  alone, 
The  ladies  will  tell  what  a  hero  you  've  grown ; 
Or  if  for  a  swim  after  tea  you  incline, 
When  the  moon  on  the  waves  makes  swimming 

divine, 
You  will  think  —  0  how  often  I  've  thought  so 

before !  — 
"If  his   Snakeship  should  come,  why,  my   last 

swim  is  o'er; " 

And  though  I  can't  prove  it,  I  haven't  a  doubt 
That  some  of  those  men  who  so  boldly  strike  out 
In  the  surf,  and  who   never   come  up  from  the 

waves, 

Find  something  more  fearful  than  watery  graves. 
However,  the  story  that  I  'm  going  to  tell  you 
Is  one  that  the  bookstores  won't  soon  again  sell 

you. 

'T  will  be  funny  and  horrid,  and  horrid  and  funny, 
And  you  '11  laughingly  own  that  the  worth  of  your 

money 


PREFACE.  9 

You  've  had,  for  't  will  teach  you  this  lesson,  —  to 

take 
At  the  sea-side  great  care  lest  you  're  caught  by 

the  snake ! 2 

IV. 

To  the  merchant,  the  sailor,  and  every  one  who 

Goes  down  on  the  deep,  or  has  business  to  do 

Upon  the  great  waters,  —  to  these  let  me  say, 

I  think  it  quite  likely  the  serpent  in  play 

Has  sunk  many  a  ship  on  the  wide  heaving  main, 

And  eat  up  the  crew  for  fear  they  'd  explain 

To  the  owners  how  'twas,  — how  it  all  came 'to 

happen, 
So  he  swallowed  the  Cook,  and  topped  off  with 

the  "  Cap'en." 

Sometimes  I  believe,  and  sometimes  I  doubt, 
If  there  is  such  a  beast  as  I  'm  writing  about ; 
Yet  this  I  will  leave  to  your  own  common  sense, 
For  you  are  safe  on  this  question  to  be  on  the 
fence. 


CONTENTS. 


CANTO     I  . 

PAGB 

The  Yacht  Hope  off  Nahant,  on  her  return  from  Newport,  .  13 

CANTO     II  . 

The  Visit  to  the  Nahant  Hotel,  under  peculiar  Circum 
stances.  —  Bathing,  Bowling,  Billiards,  interrupted.  — 
Fight  with  a  Whale 38 

CANTO     III. 

The  Lieutenant  relates  his  Adventures  in  the  North  Sea. 
—  A  Sudden  Surprise, 66 


12  CONTEXTS. 

CANTO      IV. 

A  Dinner  Party.  —  The  Hope  in  Pursuit.  —  Life  at  New 
port.  —  Life  at  Cambridge.  —  The  Frightened  Proctor. 

—  An  Attack  by  the  Students, 77 

CANTO     V. 

Fancy  Ball  at  Newport.  —  New   Costume.  —  Picnic   at 
Gloucester.  —  Great  Excitement.  —  Unexpected  Guest. 

—  Grand  Fight  on  Land  and  Water, 104 


NOTES, 141 

REMARKS, 149 

LETTERS  AXD  FACTS, 173 


CANTO   I. 

"The  Ocean  scarce  spoke  louder  with  his  swell, 
Than  breathes  his  mimic  murinurer  in  the  shell." 

BYUON,  The  Island,  Canto  II. 

"  Strange  things  come  up  to  look  at  us, 
The  masters  of  the  deep." 

SONG,  The  Return  of  the  Admiral. 

Dm  ©ce'Ctmcn  fceeb  jeg  e?  nogen  33effecb, 
3eg  tjauer  bam  albrig  meb  Dgnene  feeb, 
Segterer  e$  feller  ben  2lere ; 

ftienber  jeg  maufe,  fern  mt'g  l>ase  fogt, 
Prb  jeg  eg  gtoer  fanofaerbelig  Wagt, 
u  maa  ret  forfacrbelig  saere.  3. 

PETER  DASS'S  Description  of  Norland,  A.  D.  1749. 


I. 

THE  stars  on  the  tranquil  sea  are  beaming  ; 
Each  brilliant  seems  set  in  the  depths 

below, 

As  you  lean  o'er  the  taffrail,  idly  dreaming 
That  the  firmament  shines  where  the  bil 
lows  glow. 
2 


14  A    ROMANCE    OF 

n. 

So  silent  the  night,  so  calm,  so  fair, 

So   easy  the   yacht   through  the  ocean 

swung, 
That  you  seemed  to  be  sailing  the  seas  of  air, 

In  a  patent  balloon  from  a  comet  flung. 
Four  figures,  enjoying  their  mild  cigars, 

On  the  quarter-deck  in  silence  sat, 
Too  much  engaged  in  watching  the  stars, 

To  care  for  a  bit  of  pleasant  chat. 
The  smoke  that  the  idle  smokers  blew 

Lazily  round  them  slowly  rolled, 
Or,  lingering,  tinged  with  cerulean  hue 

The  swinging  mainsail' s  drooping  fold. 
Near  them,  a  little  abaft  the  hatch, 

A  group  of  ladies  motionless  lean 
O'er  her  painted  sides,  the  stars  to  watch, 

Perfectly  charmed  by  the  stilly  scene. 
"White  was  her  deck,  snow-white  her  sails, 

That  idly  swung  with  the  heaving  swell, 
Fitted  to  catch  the  summer  gales, 

Or ' '  the  wind  of  the  winter  night ' '  repel ; 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  15 

Beauteous  the  curve  of  her  arrowy  prow, 
Which  oft  has  danced  through  the  seeth 
ing  foam, 

Where  the  figure  of  Hope  like  a  look-out  now 
Seemed  watching  the  light  that  told  of 
home. 

m. 

Light  were  her  spars,  yet  not  too  light 

For  the  snowy  cloud  she  sometimes  spread, 
When,  swift  as  the  soaring  sea-bird's  flight, 

Away  !  away  !  from  the  fleet  she  fled. 
Swift,  0  swift,  must  the  rapid  yacht  be, 
That  can  catch  the  Hope,  the  Queen  of  the 

Sea! 
The  trim-looking  tar  who  stood  at  the  wheel, 

Watching  the  pennant  which  idly  hung, 
The  spell  of  the  twilight  hour  could  feel, 

And  forgot  the  strain  that  he  sometimes 

sung. 
Forward,  the  men  —  a  dashing  set — 

On  the  heel  of  the  bowsprit  half  reclined, 


16  A    ROMANCE    OF 

Wishing  a  breeze  would  the  ocean  fret, 
Yet  still  to  their  lot  seemed  half  resigned. 

They  were  off  Nahant,  and  far  away 
As  your  eye  could  stretch,  or  the  sailors 
see, 

The  waters  of  our  glorious  bay 
Held  many  a  tall  ship  lazily  ;  — 

Ship,  and  boat,  and  schooner,  and  all, 

Lazily  rise,  and  lazily  fall, 

As  slowly,  gracefully,  roll  on  roll, 

The  ocean  heaves  fron^pole  to  pole. 

IV. 

But  see  !   through  the  waves  what  cometh 

here, 
With  its  smoke,  and  flame,  and  glittering 

light,— 

Like  a  demon  burst  loose  from  another  sphere, 
To  career  till  morn  through  the  shades  of 

night  ? 

On,  on,  like  a  king  it  walks  the  waves  ! 
See  how  its  glare  illumes  the  sky  ! 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  17 

Neptune  and  all  his  hosts  are  slaves. 

When  the  glorious  steamer  dashes  by ! 
Lightly,  and  brightly,  on  she  speeds, 

By  the  yacht  becalmed,  and  the  tall  ship, 

—  ah! 
Little  the  calm  or  gale  she  heeds, — 

Away  she  shoots  like  a  shooting  star ! 
This  broke  the  spell.     Enchanted  they  woke 

From  the  slumberous  stillness  the  hour 

threw 
Around  them.    Yet  first  the  ladies  spoke,  — 

But  that,  you  know,  is  nothing  new. 

v. 

"  This  is  the  hour  I  truly  love," 

Said  a  musical  voice  in  accents  low  ; 

"  So  calm  below,  so  clear  above, 

While  the  waves  like  burnished  mirrors 
glow ! 

For  0,  how  still  is  the  summer  sea, 

When  the  stars  shine  out  and  the  sunset 

fades, 

2* 


18  A    ROMANCE    OF 

Giving  place,  with  its  gorgeous  drapery, 
To   the   silver   moon   and   the    evening 

shades !  " 
"  Ah,  true,  Miss  Percy  !    this  charms  you, 

then?" 
Said  Hunt,  as  he  stepped  to  the  maiden's 

side, 
And  tossed  the  cigar,  that  he  smoked  with 

the  men, 

Into  the  gently  heaving  tide. 
"  Perchance  for  your  sake  I  might  bear 

The  sluggish  calm,  and  the  silent  seas, 
But  0,  I  had  much  rather  dare 

The    mountain   wave   and   the    ringing 

breeze ! 
There  's  far  more  danger  lingering  here, 

Than  when,  close-reefed,  we  are  lying  to  ; 
But,  ladies,  I  would  not  cause  a  fear, 

So,  Forbes,  we  will  have  a  song  from  you." 
Dick  Forbes  could  sing,  and  you  may  be  sure 
•  At  Newport,  where  they  for  weeks  had 
been, 


THE   FASHIONABLE    WORLD.  19 

His  light  guitar  and  his  songs  from  Moore 
Had  delighted  the  ladies  and  teased  the 

men. 

With  a  nonchalant  air  his  guitar  he  strung, 
And  this  was  the  song  that  Dick  Forbes 
sung  : 

SONG.* 

i. 
When  twilight  dews  are  falling  soft 

Upon  the  rosy  sea, 
I  watch  the  star  whose  beam  so  oft 

Has  lighted  me  to  thee ; 
And  thou,  too,  on  that  orb  so  clear, 

Ah  !  dost  thou  gaze  at  even, 
And  think,  though  lost  forever  here, 

Thou  ;lt  jet  be  mine  in  heaven? 

n. 
There 's  not  a  garden  walk  I  tread, 

There  's  not  a  flower  I  see, 
But  brings  to  mind  some  hope  that 's  fled. 

Some  joy  I  've  lost  with  thee ; 

*  I3y  Moore. 


20  A   ROMANCE    OF 

And  still  I  wish  that  hour  was  near, 
When,  friends  and  foes  forgiven, 

The  pains,  the  ills,  we  've  wept  through  here, 
May  turn  to  smiles  in  heaven  ! 

0,  soothing  and  sweet  is  the  sounding  strain 

That  Moore  has  wed  to  immortal  verse  ! 
For  songs  so  good  we  shall  look  in  vain, 

Although  we  are  often  bored  with  worse. 
The  song  was  o'er.  — A  strain  arose 

From  the  deck  of  a  schooner  floating  near. 
So  still  that  hour  of  calm  repose, 

Each  word  sank  deep  on  the  listener's  ear, 
And,  mingling  with  the  manly  tone, 

A  maiden's  voice  was  gently  heard  : 
Upfloating  to  their  Father's  throne, 

This  soft  petition  was  preferred. 

i. 
Day  unto  day  doth  utter  speech, 

And  night  to  night  Thy  voice  makes  known ; 
Through  all  the  earth,  where  thought  may  reach, 

Is  heard  the  glad  and  solemn  tone, 


THE    FASHIONABLE    WORLD.  21 

And  worlds,  beyond  the  farthest  star 

Whose  light  hath  reached  the  human  eye, 

Catch  the  high  anthem  from  afar, 
That  rolls  along  immensity. 

II. 
0  holy  Father,  'mid  the  calm 

And  stillness  of  the  evening  hour, 
We,  too,  would  lift  our  solemn  psalm 

To  praise  thy  goodness  and  thy  power ; 
For  over  us,  as  over  all, 

Thy  tender  mercies  still  extend, 
Nor  vainly  shall  the  contrite  call 

On  thee,  their  Father  and  their  Friend.* 


Dick  Forbes  could  sing  nothing  so  good  as 

that, 

So  he  tuned  his  guitar  with  a  careless  air, 
And,  sighing,  declared  the  B  string  flat, 
And  wondered  what  inaid  in  the  schooner 

there, 

Possessed  such  voice,  such  feeling  and  skill, 
And  who  in  the  world  the  man  was  who 

*  "A  Psalin  of  Night."  — W.  II.  Burleigh. 


22  A    ROMANCE    OF 

Sang  with  the  maid  and  kept  time  so  ill ; — 
He  was  sure  he  could  teach  him  a  thing 

or  two. 
"That's  malice  prepense,"  cried  the  gay 

Miss  Wood  ; 

"  I  never  heard  better  time  or  tone  ; — 
Excuse  me,  but  pray,  sir,  be  so  good, 
Ere  you  criticize  others,  to  mend  your 

own." 

Miss  Wood  was  one  of  those  fairies  who  can 
Say  whatever  they  choose  in  a  certain 

way; 
When  you  gaze  on  her  face,  you  are  more 

than  man, 

If  you  dare  to  dispute  her  magic  sway. 
Forbes  felt  all  this,  so  he  didn't  speak, 

For  he  knew  in  a  minute  again  she  'd  turn 
And  ask  him  to  come  some  day  next  week, 
That  difficult  passage  in  "  Norma"  to  learn. 
So  he  whistled  an  air,  and  tuned  a  string, 
As  Miss  Wood  approached  and  demanded 
when 


THE    FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  23 

He  was  coming  that  little  song  to  bring, 
That  he  wrote  for  her  in  the  woodland 

glen. 
"  You  would  n't  care  if  you  heard  it  ?  "  — 

«ISTo, 

Do  sing  it."  —  "  Yes,  some  time,  not  to 
night, 
For  I  rather  think  I  must  go  below  ; 

I  've  a  cold."  —  "  Well,  really  it  must 

be  slight, 
For  you  never  before  sung  half  so  well 

As  you  did  just  now  in  '  Twilight  Dews.' 
You  know,  Miss  Prince,  and  you,  Miss  Bell, 
How  well  he  sung,  —  now  don't  refuse." 
"  But  pray,  Miss  Wood,  say  how  can  I, 

Who  keep,  as  you  say,  such  poor  time, 
To  dare  to  please  you  even  try,  — 

For   now   you  '11   scold   both   tune   and 

rhyme  ? 

Ah  !  here  's  my  sister  ;   she  will  do 
Better  than  I  should  think  of  doing. 


24  A    ROMANCE    OF 

I  feel,  like  indigo,  somewhat  blue, 

But  Sue  will  sing  without  much  suing." 
Sue  Forbes  !  —  can  pen  and  ink  reveal 

The  lovely  shapes  that  haunt  the  earth, 
And  through  our  morning  visions  steal, 

With  smiles  of  love  and  eyes  of  mirth  ? 
Can  you  picture  the  forms  on  the  canvas 
spread 

At  the  International  Rooms  of  Art, 
Or  draw  figures  with  ink,  either  black  or  red, 

That  like  these  seem  ready  to  speak  or 

start 

From  their  gilded  frames,  and  ask  you  to 
take 

A  ticket  in  one  of  the  raffles  there, 
Or  tell  you  Miranda  would  blush  to  wake, 

And  find  her  bosom  so  cold  and  bare  ? 
Can  you  take  the  dome  of  the  State  House 
down, 

And  wash  it  clean  in  the  Fountain  pond  ; 
Bring  Bunker  Hill  Monument  into  town, 

Or  a  comet  secure  from  the  eyes  of  Bond  ? 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  25 

Can  you  tell  how  many  men  there  are 

Go  out  of  town  ere  the  first  of  May, 
Or  why  they  had  much  rather  by  far 

Their  tax  in  the  country  than  city  pay  ? 
In  short,  can  you  tell  why  the  old  South  End 

Has  gone  up  town  two  miles  or  so  ? 
Or  how  far  Boston  would  extend, 

Provided  you  'd  give  it  room  to  grow  ? 
Or  when  the  new  balloon  will  start, 

That 's  bound  for  San  Francisco's  Bay, 
Or  when  any  true  and  noble  heart 

Will  cease  to  honor  Harry  Clay  ? 
When  you  tell  me  this,  to  you  I  '11  tell 

Some  other  things  that  are  strange  and 

true, 
But  at  present  just  imagine  how  well 

Sue  Forbes  *  would  have  sung  this  song 
to  you. 

*  "  I  cannot  describe  her,  but  wait  for  a  while, 

Till  you  find  one  face  most  fair  ; 
When  that  loved  one's  moments  you  strive  to  beguile, 
And  gaze  on  her  features  in  hopes  of  a  smile, 

Imagine  Sue  Forbes  is  there  " 

8 


26  A   ROMANCE    OF 

I. 
There  is  no  rest.     The  sky  above  us  beaming 

Sees  angry  storm-clouds  scud  athwart  its  face, 
Old  earth  whirls  on,  with  countless  millions  teem 
ing, 

Each  jostling  forward  in  the  busy  race. 
There  is  no  rest.     Each  past  remembrance  throng 
ing, 

Calls  from  our  memory's  chamber  secret  sighs, 
While  the  dim  future,  with  its  heartfelt  longing, 
Seems  crowded  thick  with  awful  mysteries. 

II. 

There  is  no  rest.     Our  souls  are  but  beginning 

The  lengthening  race  that  they  have  here  to  run ; 
Eternity 's  the  earthly  goal  we  're  winning ; 

Death  is  not  rest,  for  life  with  death  is  won. 
There  is  no  rest.     Forgetful  and  forgetting 

That  soul  must  be,  that  thinks  to  find  it  here. 
Why  e'er  regret  what  is  beyond  regretting,  — 

That  the  true  rest  is  in  another  sphere  ? 

Miss  Wood  and  Miss  Bell  demanded  again 
That  Forbes  the  promised  song  should 
sing. 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  27 

So  Dick,  who  in  truth  was  somewhat  vain 
And  good-natured,  swept  each  sounding 

string  ; 
Then,  humming  a  moment,  he  caught  the 

air, 
And  sang  this  song  to  the  ladies  there  : 

SONG. 

I. 

« 

Give  me  the  girl  with  courage  strong 

To  curb  the  restive  steed,  — 
To  cheer  my  heart  with  thrilling  song, 

When  I  of  rest  have  need. 
To  care  for  me  for  something  more 

Than  idle  friends  may  know, 
And  love  me  better  than  before, 

Should  streams  of  sorrow  flow. 

IT. 
And,  ah  !  should  I  this  treasure  find, 

From  selfish  passions  free,  — 
A  girl  of  frank,  ingenuous  mind,  — 

Then  what  ought  I  to  be  ? 


28  A   ROMANCE    OF 

I  'd  be,  —  0,  never  doubt  my  word, — 

Could  I  my  love  discover 
By  billet-doux  or  carrier-bird, 

I  'd  be  that  maiden's  lover. 

"  You  whispered  of  danger  even  here," 
Said  Miss  Percy,  when   the   song  was 

done  ; 

"  But  what  have  I  in  this  world  to  fear, 
When  so  near  the  heart  of  my  dearest 

one? 
Beside,  dear  Hunt,  at  the  sunset  hour, 

I  breathed  a  prayer  to  the  God  of  all, 
Who    rules   the   world,    that    his    eye    of 

power, 

Which  '  seeth  even  the  sparrow's  fall,' 
Would  look  with  mercy  on  us  to-night, 

And  save  us  safe  from  storm  and  harm. 
I   almost  deemed,  when   the  clouds  grew 

bright, 

And  the  rainbow  came,  that  this  silent 
calm 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  29 

Was  perhaps  an  answer  to  the  prayer 
That  I  in  faith  had  breathed  to  Heaven ; 

For  I  seemed  to  hear  through  the  silent  air 
A  spirit  whisper,  —  '  Your  wish  is  giv 
en!'" 

VI. 

"  Ah,  Mary,  long  I  've  known  thy  power; 

Thy  gentle  heart  can  mine  subdue  ; 
I  own  I  thought,  in  the  battle  hour, 

That  perhaps  I  owed  my  life  to  you  ; 
For  when,  beneath  San  Juan's  walls, 

The  shot  and  shells  full  thickly  flew, 
Too  well  my  glancing  mind  recalls 

How  through  the  fight  I  thought  of  yon, 
And  you  for  me,  fair  lady  mine, 

Unknowing  still  my  danger,  here 
Were  bending  humbly  at  the  shrine, 

Where,  but  for  thee,  perchance  my  bier 
Had  rested,  —  but  thy  faith  prevailed. 

You  know  the  rest.     But  who  can  know 
What  guards  the  sailor,  when,  unmailed, 
3* 


60  A    ROMANCE   OF 

He  bares  his  bosom  to  the  foe  ? 
In  love's  unwritten  history 

There  is  a  sympathetic  chain, — 
Links  formed  and  forged  in  mystery, 

That  maids  nor  poets  can  explain. 

VII. 

' '  I  know  your  power,  but  cannot  think 

That  even  the  winds  and  waves  obey  ; 
Though  't  is  said  that  the  king  of  beasts 
will  shrink, 

And  turn  from  the  path  of  a  maid  away ; 
'T  is  a  fancy  wild.     But  He  who  spread 

The  waters  of  the  glorious  sea 
Has  stilled  them,  —  you  have  often  read 

The  miracle  of  Galilee. 
'T  is  true  I  spoke 'of  danger  near  ; 

I  was  thinking  of  stories  strange  and  old, 
That  well   might   blanch   the   cheek  with 
fear, 

By  the   ancient   Skalds  to  the  Vikings 
told. 


THE   FASHIONABLE    WORLD.  31 

High  up  among  the  northern  seas, 

Where  glittering  icebergs  coldly  shine, 
Their  bards  sang  sagas  wild  like  these, 

While   bearded  sea-kings  quaffed  their 

wine. 
1  love  right  well  their  Runic  lore, 

And  often  in  my  boyhood's  days 
llave  gathered  from  its  ample  store 

Of  mystic  rites  and  stirring  lays, 
Wild  legends  of  those  stormy  seas ;  — 

Traditions  strange,  that  stranger  men, 
Borne  thither  by  the  tide  and  breeze, 

Have  told,  which  then  were  told  again 
Unto  their  children,  until  years 

Had  made  them  seem  almost  divine, — 
Till  e'en  a  nation's  hopes  and  fears 

Bent  humbly  at  tradition's  shrine." 

*'  But  why  to-night,  dear  Hunt,  should  you, 
When  all  around  is  calm  and  still, 

Look  bluer  than  the  ocean's  blue, 
Or  feel  this  sense  of  coming  ill  ?  ' ' 


32  A    ROMANCE    OP 

VIII. 

"Ah,  Mary,  have  you  never  heard 

Of  a  monster  vast  in  the  northern  seas, 
Who   lives    below   when    the    waves   are 

stirred 
By  the  dashing    storm,  or   the   ringing 

breeze, 
But,   in    the    calm,    when   the    storm    is 

done, 
And  the  waves  are  still  on  the  summer 

sea, 
Comes  up  to  bask  in  the  noontide  sun, 

And  play  on  the  tranquil  ocean  free  ? 
So   monstrous   his    size,  and   so   vast   his 

length, 

Vessels  and  boats  are  naught  to  him  ; 
He   laughs    at   the  ship  and   her  boasted 

strength  ; 
He  is  king  of  the  sea ;    the  fishes  that 

swim, 

When  they  meet  him,  are  frightened  half 
to  death  ; 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  33 

He   drives   them  before  him  in  mighty 

shoals  ; 

They  flee  till  they  're  fairly  out  of  breath. 
When  they  see  his  eyes  that  blaze  like 

coals, 
They  wish  for  the  shore,  or  the  fisherman's 

hook, 

Or  anything  else  they  dreaded  before, 
And  cast  at  the  serpent  a  piteous  look, 
That  might  touch  the  heart  of  Agassiz. 

But  he 
Only  takes,  from   a  school  of  a  thousand 

fishes, 
For  the  school  at  Cambridge  some  two 

or  three, 
And   preserves    them    safe    in    fine    glass 

dishes. 
Some    day   next   week,  if  you    please, 

we  '11  go 
To    Cambridge,  where   I   have  sometimes 

been, 
And  see  those  fishes  set  in  a  row 


34  A   ROMANCE    OP 

And  converse  with  those  grave  and  learned 
men, 

Who  wield  so  well  the  glittering  steel, 
Chase  savage  foes  from  gloomy  dens, 

And  make  the  world  most  truly  feel 
The  might,  the  power  of  good  steel —  pens  ! 

IX. 

"  Not  so  with  the  serpent.     He  eats  up 
Some   twenty-five    dozen  of  sharks  for 

dinner, 
And  after  that  on  a  man  would  sup, 

Or  seize  a  boat  and  the  crew  that 's  in 

her; 
He   scares   the    dolphin,    and   frights   the 

whale  ; 
The  sword-fish  flees  when  he  sees  him 

coming  ; 
The  brave  sea-lion  himself  turns  pale, 

And  feels  a  fear  that 's  quite  benumbing. 
All  the  huge  creatures  that  swim  in  the 
sea 


THE   FASHIONABLE    WORLD.  35 

Had  rather  by  half  keep  out  of  his  way. 
In  vain  the  small  fry  madly  flee  ; 

He  makes  of  them  an  easy  prey. 
Ah,  Mary,  I  saw  him  once,  when  I 

Made  to  the  north  that  fearful  trip,  — 
I'm  glad  you  were  not  with  me."  —  "  Why, 
What  nonsense  you  're  talking  !  "  said 

Captain  Skip, 
Who  was  walking   the   deck   near   where 

they  stood, 

And  happened  some  words  to  overhear 
About  the  serpent,  and  what  he  could 

Do  in  the  way  of  inspiring  fear. 
Captain  Skip  was  one  of  those  bluff  sort 

of  men 

W7ho  always  say  what  they  have  to  say. 
Hunt  felt 't  was  no  use  to  be  angry  then, 
For  he  knew  it  was  only  the  captain's 

way. 
"I  know,"  says  the  captain,   "they  tell 

strange  tales 
Of  serpents  vast  in  the  briny  deep, 


36  A    ROMANCE    OP 

As  long,  perhaps,  as  two  or  three  whales ; 

If  it 's   true,   they  must  at  the  bottom 

keep, 
And  only  come  up,  say  once  in  a  while, 

To  see  what 's  going  on  above. 
It 's  enough  to  make  a  lobster  smile, 

To  hear  you  telling  the  maid  you  love 
There  is  any  kind  of  danger  here 

From  any  such  fabulous  fish  as  this  ; 
I  've  sailed  the  sea  for  many  a  year, 

And  never  saw  one.     Nor  do  I  wish 
To  see  one  ;  for  if  such  things  be, 
They    are    dangerous    beasts    most    cer 
tainly." 

x. 

"Well,    captain,"   cried   Hunt,    "I   was 

going  to  tell 

A  little  story  of  danger  and  fear, 
Of   what    once    some    old    North-traders 

befell ; 
I  heard  it  when  I  was  there  in  the  year 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  37 

Eighteen  hundred  and  thirty-seven, 

And  I  tell  you  the  '  tale  as  't  was  told  to 

me.' 
'T  was  sworn  to  by  witnesses  ten  or  eleven, 

All  men  of  undoubted  veracity." 
All  on  deck  approached  to  hear 

The  tale  which  Hunt  began  to  relate  ; 
Some  of  the  crew  stood  respectfully  near, 
For  they  'd  anchored  there  at  the  hour 

of  eight ; 
The    sails  were    furled,  for   the    trip    was 

through, 

So  of  course  the  men  had  nothing  to  do. 
But   here,  gentle  reader,  I  '11  throw  down 

my  pen  ; 
When    I  've    leisure,    perhaps    I  '11    write 

again,  — 

That  is,  provided  you  care  to  read 
A  story  written  at  railway  speed. 
4 


CANTO    II. 


"  They  continued  to  row  on,  till  at  length  Eymer  told  Thor  if  they  did 
not  stop,  they  would  be  in  danger  from  the  great  serpent  of  Midgard. 
"  *  *  *  *  It  is  impossible  to  express  the  dreadful  looks  that  the  god  darted 
at  the  serpent,  while  the  monster,  raising  his  head,  spouted  out  yenoin 
upon  him." 

The  Edda,  XXVII.  Fable.  [The  journey  undertaken  by  Thor,  to  go  to 
fish  for  the  great  serpent.] 


I. 

BUT  e'er  the  Lieutenant  tells  his  story, 

I  '11  tell  you  something  he  did  n't  know  ; 
That  two  men,  that  day,  in  a  little  dory, 

Had  seen  the  serpent  swim  to  and  fro, 
Between  Nahant  and  the  beach  at  Lynn, 

While  two  hundred  men  on  the  shore,  at 

least, 
Were  ready  at  any  court  to  go  in, 

And  swear  that  they  had  seen  the  beast. 
Quite  an  exciting  scene  took  place, 

So  I  am  told  by  those  who  saw  it ; 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  39 

Old  and  young  in  boats  gave  chase, 

For  a  great  reward  had  been  offered  for  it. 

"  Out  with  the  boats  !  hurrah  for  the  snake  ! 

Look  !  look  !  o'er  the  sea  his  head  he  's 

raising. 
Whoever  gets  him  his  fortune  will  make, 

And  a  blaze  of  glory  he  '11  end  his  days  in. 
Out  with  the  boats  !  —  it 's  something  like 

fishing, 

To  fish  for  a  fish  six  hundred  feet  long  !  ' ' 
While  some  on  the  shore  most  devoutly  were 

wishing 

That  they  had  Thor's  bait  and  his  fish- 
line  strong, 
With  which  he  nearly  caught  the  snake 

Over  two  thousand  years  ago, 
When  Eymer  thought  it  best  to  take 

Care  of  his  boat,  —  with  a  single  blow 
He  cut  the  line,  and  let  him  go.4 

Pull,  my  hearties,  you  in  the  boat 
Where  the  bow-man  poises  the  bright  har 
poon  ! 


40  A    ROMANCE    OF 

Every  man  there,  with  his  heart  in  his 

throat, 

Hopes  to  see  fun  with  the  serpent  soon. 
(Those  men  were  Nantucket  whalemen 

old, 

Who  had  sailed  the  sea  both  far  and  near, 
And  oft  to  their  friends  in  Lynn  had  told 
"What  they  'd  do  if  the  serpent  came  that 

year.) 
Like  lightning  the  steel  from  his  sure 

hand  glances, 
They  've  struck  him,  —  three    cheers  for 

those  valiant  men ! 
See  where  the  boat  like  a  cockle-shell 

dances 
In  the  wake  of  the  monster,  as  down  to  his 

den 

He  rushes  as  fast  as  an  arrow  can  fly 
When  sped   from  the   string  of  a   trusty 

bow; 

As  swift  as  the  eagle  mounts  the  sky, 
He  plunges  down  to  the  depths  below  ! 


THE   FASHIONABLE    WORLD.  41 

Every  man,  with  his  hair  on  end, 
Held  on  to  his  oar  in  mute  despair, 

Thought  of  his  mother,  —  and  some  pre 
tend 

Each  had  to  hold  on  to  his  neighbor's  hair. 
So   fast   the   serpent   flew  through   the 

waves, 

Though  calm,  it  seemed  to  blow  hard  now; 
Look  out,  my  hearties,  for  watery  graves, 
If  with  his  tail  he  staves  your  prow ! 

Some    in   the    boat    were    saying   their 

prayers, 

Some  were  too  much  frightened  to  pray  ; 
While  others  thought  they  'd  sell  him  in 

shares, 
When  they  got  him  up  to  Boston  Bay. 

A  Boston  merchant,  safe  on  the  beach, 
Was  thinking  how  much  he  'd  bring  on 

"  Change ;  " 
His  daughter  lost  all  power  of  speech 

At  a  sight  so  most  terrifically  strange. 
4* 


4:2  A    ROMANCE    OF 

On  flew  the  boat ;  —  up  caine  the  snake ; 
But  only  a  moment  he  stays  above, 

Just  to  see  which  course  he  'd  take, 
And  to  give  them  a  touching  proof  of  love. 

Away  he  shoots  for  the  great  hotel. 
Blinded  with  rage,  he  does  not  see  ; 

Or,  if  he  does,  he  knows  right  well 
That  all  Nahant  would  certainly  flee. 

Should    they    see    him     coining     right 

ashore, 
Every  one  there  would  run  away  ; 

For,  though  he  had  often  been  there  of 

yore, 
Lately  he  's  -rather  preferred  to  stray 

On  the  less  frequented  shores  of  Maine. 
Nor  is  it  at  all  surprising  he  should  ; 

But  it  's  rather  droll  to   hear  farmers 

complain, 
That,  merely  to  cheer  his  solitude, 

He  knocks  down  their  walls  and  rolls  in 
their  grain ! 5 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  43 

II. 

On  fled  the  snake,  and  swiftly  flew 

The  boat  behind  through  the  dashing  foam ; 
There  never  was  a  more  frightened  crew  ; 
All  of  them  wished  themselves  safe  at 

home. 
One  old  sailor,  Richard  Rough, 

Sung  out —  "  Avast  there  !  cut  the  line  ! 
Chasing  whales  is  fun  enough, 

And  catching  serpents  may  be  fine 
Sport  for  those  who  like  it ;  but  I 

Am  inclined  to  think,  by  his  strength 

and  fuss, 

That  he  does  n't  seem  inclined  to  die  ; 
And  though  sport  to  him,  't  will  be  death 

to  us." 
On  fled  the  snake  ;   Solomon  Soils 

Looked  over  his  shoulder,  and   said  to 

Brown, 
"  What  would  Kimball  pay  for  one  of  those 

coils 
For  his  Museum  up  in  Bostiny  town  ?  " 


44  A    ROMANCE    OF 

"  Pooh  !  Kimball  ?  —  he  does  n't  want  the 

snake  ; 

He  has  one  now,  but  it 's  stored  away, 
And  it 's  only  waiting  its  turn  to  take, 
After  the  mermaid  has  had  its  day  ; 

But    Barnum "      "Cut   the    line!" 

cried  Rough, 

Again  ;   "I  say  there  !  cut  the  line  !  " 
But  the  man  in  the  bow  was  of  sterner 

stuff, 
And  he  meant  to  hold  on  till  the  sun's 

decline. 
Rough  rushed  to  the  bow,  with  his  knife  in 

his  hand,  — 
"  I  '11  cut  it!  "    he  cried  ;    "  't  is   our 

only  hope !  " 

But  he  slipped,  just  how  I  don't  understand, 
And  fell  into  the  sea  ;  meanwhile  the 

rope 

Held  on  to  the  snake,  and  away  they  fled, 
Like  a  Cunard  boat  o'er  the  waves  of 
blue, 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  45 

When  the  serpent  turned  round  and  laugh 
ingly  said, 
"  To  catch  me  you  're   altogether  too 

few  !  " 

At  this  a  tremendous  bound  he  made, 
And  started  off  as  brisk  as  a  linnet ; 
To  cut  the  line,  too  long  they  'd  delayed, 
For  the  boat  was  over,  and  all  that  were 

in  it 

Were  lost,  save  one  who  held  on  to  the  keel ; 
The  snake  didn't  stop  to  observe  the 

disaster, 

For  he  felt  in  his  side  the  painful  steel, 
And  so  he  clawed  on  for  the  shore  the 

faster. 

At  Nahant  the  ladies  in  nice  blue  dresses 
Were  bathing,  not  far  from  the  cove  near 

the  house  ; 

Just  where  the  ocean  the  shore  caresses, 
The  belles  have  come  down  their  tresses 
to  souse. 


46  A   EOMANCE    OF 

Softly  the  summer  sun  was  playing 

Over  the  calm  and  waveless  sea, 
Calmer  far  were  those  lovers  straying 

Under  the  shaded  balcony. 
Brightly  those  sherry  cobblers  glisten, 

The  bucks  are  drinking  there  at  the  bar  ; 
And  while  they  drink,  to  this  song  they 
listen, 

Sung  by  a  beau  on  his  "  light  guitar." 

i. 

If  charmed  by  thy  witchery,  loitering,  I  linger 
Spell-bound,  enchanted  by  beauty  and  song, 
While  Time,  floating  swiftly,  denotes  with  his  finger 
That   long   hours   have   fled   which    have    not 

seemed  long,  — 
0,  if  the  wand  of  the  wizard  could  win  me 

Hours  and  moments  that  long  since  are  o'er,  — 
My  heart,  answering  true  to  the  spirit  within  me, 
Would  ask  the  past  moments  passed  with  thee 
of  yore. 

II. 

Still,  when  I  meet  thee,  thy  lovely  face  glowing 
With  more  than  the  grace  that  thy  girlhood  e'er 
knew. 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  47 

While,  from  thy  lips  melodiously  flowing, 

I  hear  the  loved  song  that  I  first  heard  from  you ; 

Then,  revoking  the  wish  I  was  just  now  expressing, 
The  wand  of  the  wizard,  how  idle  its  powers, 

Compared  with  the  joy  I  feel  in  confessing 

That  thy  song  and  thy  smile  have  restored  the 
lost  hours ! 

Fair  was  the  day,  but  fairer  still 

Those  sylph -like  forms  in  the  summer 

sea  ; — 
Who  could  dream  that  aught  of  ill 

Could  mar  their  hour  of  revelry  ? 
Lightly  they  play  with  the  glistening  waves, 

Or  dive  for  the  pearly  pebbles  and  shells 
Swept  by  the  winds  from  ocean's  caves. 

But,   hark  !    do  you  hear  those  horrid 

yells  ? 
On  came  the  serpent  right  for  the  spot ! 

Like  lightning  gleamed  his  glaring  eyes. 
He  doubts  if  the  ladies  are  mermaids  or  not ; 

The  man  on  the  keel,  with  a  wild  sur 
prise, 


48  A    ROMANCE    OF 

Suspects  they  are,  but  he  does  not  know ; 

For,  ever  since  the  boat  upset, 
He  's  been  tossed  above  and  dragged  below. 

However,   he   shrieks,    "  Ho,   look    out 

there  !  get 
Out  of  the  way  !  for  heaven's  sake  fly! 

Rush  where  'you  can  !   if  you  linger,  you 

die!" 
On  came  the  snake,  like  a  whirlwind  blast ; 

Over  the  waves  he  fairly  leapt ; 
In  the  surf  a  maiden  stood  aghast, 

Over  her  quick  the  monster  swept. 
Heavens  !  list  to  her  frantic  screams  ! 

"  Father  !    mother  !  —  0,  help  me  !  — 

save  !  — 
Albert,  Albert !  "     Little  he  deems 

That  his  lady  has  met  with  a  watery  grave ! 
Albert  stood  on  a  point  of  rocks  ; 

His  trusty  rifle  gleamed  in  his  hand  ; 
(He  wore  the  neatest  of  hunting-frocks  ; ) 

He  saw  the  snake  making  straight  for 
the  land ; 


THE    FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  49 

And   though   in   truth   he  was  somewhat 
alarmed, 

Yet  he  took  good  aim  and  blazed  away. 
But  the  serpent  bears  a  life  that 's  charmed ; 

And  though  Albert  says  to  this  very  day 
That  he  hit  him,  yet,  ah !  I  fear  the  fact  is 
That  Albert  was  sadly  out  of  practice. 

m. 

A  mother  was  in  the  bathing-house  there  ; 

Her  little  girl  is  safe  by  her  side  ; 
They  hear  the  shrieks  that  rend  the  air, 
And  the  canvas  door  they  open  wide. 
Up  came  the  snake  over  the  sand  ; 

The  bathing-house  there  was  just  in  his 

course. 

What  can  the  strength  of  the  serpent  with 
stand? 

On  he  came,  with  resistless  force, 
Over  the  house,  the  mother  and  child. 
On,  right  on,  the  Saurian  sped ; 
5 


50  A   ROMANCE   OF 

What  cared  he  for  their  outcries  wild  ? 
For  the  mother  and  infant  crushed  and 

dead? 
On,  right  on,  he  scrambled  along, 

Up  the  bank,  and  over  the  rocks. 
The  boat  held  on,  for  the  rope  was  strong  ; 
The  man  on  the  keel  got  some  pretty 

hard  knocks, 

As  he  tumbled  off  and  rolled  in  the  sand, 
And  thanked  his  stars  he  was  safe  on 

land. 
On  flew  the  snake  up  to  the  door 

Of  the  house  where  so  many  had  talked 

of  him  ; 

But  who  ever  thought  or  dreamed  before 
That  he  'd   really   come,  all   cold   and 

grim, 
As  then  he  came  crashing  along, 

O'er  the  piazza,  and  into  the  hall, 
Into  the  midst  of  the  jolly  throng  ? 
Untasted  they  let  their  goblets  fall ; 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  51 

Uprose  a  shriek  of  horror  then  ; 

The    serpent    roared,    and   hissed,    and 

growled, 
While  some  beaux  and  belles,  say  eight  or 

ten, 

Who  all  the  morning  had  merrily  bowled 
In  the  alleys,  that  moment  were   coming 

in 

At  the  other  door,  half  wild  wiih  pleas 
ure  ; 
Goodness,  gracious  !  how  they  spin 

Out   of  his   way !  —  while    beyond   all 

measure 

The  ladies  up  stairs  comfortably  sitting, 
Reading  Longfellow's  last  new  book, 
Or  else  a  purse  for  a  lover  knitting, 

Are  frightened  ;  they  run  to  the  window, 

and  look 
To  see  what 's  the  matter,  and,  screaming, 

wonder 
Whether  it 's  fire  or  whether  it 's  thunder. 


52  A    ROMANCE    OF 

On  rushed  the  snake,  and,  thundering  after, 
Came  the  boat  with  an  awful  crash, 

That  shook  the  house  from  cellar  to  rafter, 
While  boat  and  serpent  together  dash 

Off  to  the  left,  and  over  the  green 

That  lies  the  hotel  and  the  ocean  between. 

IV. 

Just  on  the  slope,  with  its  rough  stone  walls. 
Stands  the  billiard  saloon  on  the  brink  of 

"the  sea. 
Some  beaux  from  Boston  were  knocking 

the  balls 

About  on  the  boards  right  merrily  ; 
Little  cared  they  for  serpents  or  snakes ; 
They  were  playing  merely  as  gentlemen 

do, 

Not  for  the  sake  of  winning  the  stakes, 
But  merely  to  see  how  sure  and  true 
They  could  pocket  a  ball,  when,  with  a 

bound, 
The  serpent  as  swift  as  lightning  came 


THE    FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  53 

Through  the  window,  and  crushed  to  the 

ground 
The  men  and  tables,  and  stopped  their 

game  ; 
But  he  did  n't  stop,  for  out  of  the  other 

Swiftly  he  fled  for  the  sea  again, 
And  the  boat,  which  stuck  to  him  close 

as  a  brother, 

Came  to  the  window,  but  there  in  twain 
The  rope  that  Rough  with  his  knife  would 

have  parted 
Broke,  two  miles  from  the  place  whence  he 

started. 

The  serpent  was  gone.     Out  on  the  sea 
They  saw  him  swimming  rapidly,  — 
Saw  him  shaking  his  frightful  mane, 
And  daring  them  to  touch  him  again. 
A  fisherman  tells  the  tale,  't  is  said, 
That  he  saw  him  at  sunset,  bloody  and  red, 
Fighting  alone  with  a  massive  whale, 
Which  he  killed  at  last  with  a  blow  of  his 
tail. 

5* 


54  A   ROMANCE    OF 

Sad  the  scene  and  mournful  the  sight 
The  ladies  saw  at  Nahant  that  night ; 
Dead  and  drowned  and  wounded  men 
Were  found  wherever  the  snake  had  been. 
Mournful,  mournful !     Albert's  heart 

Was  broken  ;   let  the  tear-drop  start ; 

i 

Mourn  with  him  the  early  doom 

"  Of  beauty  blossoming  for  the  tomb." 

0,  how  mournfully  sound  the  waves, 

When  the  truly  loved  are  lost, 
Murmuring  in  their  hollow  caves  ! 

When  the  feelings,  —  tempest  tossed, 
As  were  Albert's,  hopes  to  hear, 
From  every  shell  he  holds  at  his  ear, 
Some  message  from  Cora,  or  else  to  see 
Her  rise  from  the  waves  in  her  purity  ! 

All  of  Lynn  came  over  to  see 
What  had  become  of  Rough  and  the  rest ; 

They  heard  this  story  of  mystery, 
And  all  went  home  extremely  distressed. 
And  the  man  who  owned  the  boat  was  very 
Sad  at  the  loss  of  the  snake  and  the  wherry. 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  55 

Now  all  of  this  happened  the  very  day 
The  Boston  yacht  came  into  the  bay  ; 
Yet  those  on  board  the  yacht  had  not  heard 

of  it, 
And  some  of  my  friends  doubt  every  word 

of  it. 

We  left  the  lieutenant  about  to  tell 
The  fearful  tale  of  what  befell 

Some  Northmen !  — 
A  story  more  strange 

Than  the  "  Castle  Otranto  ;  "  * 
And  so  we  will  let  him 

Begin  the  Canto 

*  By  Horace  Walpole. 


CANTO    III. 


First  Naturalist.  (After  dinner.)  "  What !  the  S-S-She-Sher-pent  a-an 
(hie)  Ich(hic)thyosaurus  !  Nonshe-ense  ! " 

Second  Naturalist.  "  Who  said  Ich  (hie)  Ichthy-o-saurus  ?  I  said  a 
(hie)  Plesiu(luc)saurus  plain  enuff."  —  PUSCH. 


I. 

"  WELL,  ladies,"  said  Hunt,  "  some  North- 
traders  bold, 

Who  over  the  seas  in  their  galleys  rolled, 
Told  of  the  serpent  this  tale  to  me, 
When  I  was  up  in  the  Northern  sea. 
The  captain  here  thinks  it  very  absurd 
That  I  should  say  a  single  word 
About  him  ;  but  when  the  captain  hears 
That  the  serpent  has  the  longest  ears, — 
So  long,  that  twenty-five  miles,  it  is  said, 
He  can  hear,  —  and  up  from  his  truckle-bed 
He  hurries  as  fast  as  he  can  swim, 
To  see  who  it  is  that  talks  of  him  — 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WOULD.  57 

(This  in  parentheses  let  me  say  : 
If  any  think  of  fishing  to-day, 

I  beg  that  especial  care  you  will  take, 
That  none  of  the  party  allude  to  the  snake.") 
"  Pooh  !  "  said  the  captain  ;   "the  longest 

ears 

Has  he  who  believes,  not  he  who  hears." 
The  lieutenant's  brow  grew  suddenly  black 
(You  have  seen  a  cloud  come  over  the 

skies)  ; 

But  the  captain  was  back  on  the  other  tack, 
And,  to  calm  the  rage  he  had  kindled, 
cries, 

II  Now,  Hunt,  forgive  me,  and,  ladies,  you 
Must  pardon  the  word  untimely  sped  ; 

Believe  me,  till  now  I  never  knew 

Such  monstrous  ears  the  monster  had." 
Captain  Skip  was  rich  ;  just  such  men 
You  may  meet  on  "  'Change"  between  two 

and  ten, 

And  those  men  often  have  a  way 
Of  saying  things  they  should  n't  say. 


58  A   ROMANCE    OF 

Miss  Wood  looked  up  with  her  blandest 

smile, 

And  begged  that  Hunt  would  go  on.  "Mean 
while, 

Captain  Skip,  I  join  your  party,  and  doubt 
If  there  is  such  a  fish  as  he  's  talking  about." 
The  lieutenant  went  on  ;  but  little  he  knew 
That  the  serpent  was  there,  and  listening  too. 
Under  the  yacht  the  serpent  lay, 

Thinking  that  Skip  was  a  horrid  old  fel 
low. 
"  I  've  done  some  mischief,  it's  true,  to- 

.      day, 

But  I  'd  like  to  know  if  he  's  black  or 
yellow." 

"  These    Northmen,   in   their   dark  ribbed 

ship, 

Were  sailing  up  the  Northern  sea  ;  — 
It 's  not  considered  a  pleasant  trip, 

If  the  Maelstrom  chance  to  be  under  your 
lee. 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  59 

It  was  summer  time  ;   but  plenty  of  ice 
Islands,  with  pinnacles  tall  and  shattered, 

Like  crystal  castles  of  strange  device, 
With  bannered   towers  and  battlements 
battered, — 

Looking  more  like  the  castles  built 
In  the  air  by  your  *  easy  sort  of  men' 

(Beautifully  carved  and  massively  gilt), 
Who  are  just  getting  ready  to  move  in, 
when 

Down  they  come  to  the  earth  again,  — 

These  o'er  the  dark  blue  sea  were  scattered, 

Where  devils*  and  foxes  howled  and  chat 
tered  ; 

I  've  watched  them  oft,  as  I  stood  in  the 
shrouds, 

Till   these   crystal    castles    gleamed    like 
clouds." 

"  Faith,"  said  the  captain,  "  I  'in  glad  to 
know 

Where  all  these  magnificent  castles  go  ; 

*  See  Note  6. 


60  A    ROMANCE    OF 

I  thought  that  from  Wall  Street  they  went 

to  the  moon. 

Well,  give  us  a  touch  of  the  serpent  soon." 
"  Pray  do,"  said  Miss  Wood  ;    "  for  I  long 

to  hear 

How  he  chanced  to  have  that  wonderful  ear. 
What  a  very  convenient  ear  it  would  be  ! 
I  wish  his  Snakeship  would  lend  it  to  me. 
But  perhaps  he  lives  in  a  castle  of  air, 
And  he  needs  it  when  he  's  flying  there." 
Could  Miss  Wood   and   the  captain  have 

looked  through  the  wave, 
They  'd  have  seen  what  a  grin  the  Saurian 

gave. 
But  the  captain  thought — 0,  how  often 

so  'tis 
In  life  !  —  the  serpent  beneath  his  notice. 


n. 

"  These  islands,"  said  Hunt,  "  are  danger 
ous  things 


THE    FASHIONABLE    WORLD.  61 

To  meet  on  the  wide  and  desolate  wave, 
When  ^Eolus  takes  off  the  top  of  his  cave, 
Setting  the  raging  north  wind  free, 
For  a  week  or  so  of  liberty. 
These  Northmen  were  still  like  their  sires 

of  eld  ; 

Every  sea  has  their  tall  ships  held  ; 
Their  ancestors  fought  for  the  bright  red 

gold; 

These  took  it  in  trade,  and  bought  and  sold. 
Now  they  were  merrily  dashing  home, 
With  a  spanking  breeze,  through  the  glit 
tering  foam. 
Our  two  ships  were  alone  on  the  sea, 

But  we  sailed  for  a  while  in  company. 
We  were  off  the  coast  of  Norway  then, 
Some  fifty  miles  from  Bergen  Bay, 
And  hoped  full  soon  to  reach  it,  when 
The  breeze  one  morning  died  away  ; 
So  tranquil  and  calm  that  summer  ocean, 
You  could  half  forget  that  the  sea  has 
motion. 
6 


62 


There  we  lay  ;  the  sea  seemed  dead  ; 

This  quiet  calm  reminds  me  sadly 
Of  what  the  bold  North-trader  said 

(He  did  not  tell  that  story  gladly). 
Their  ship  was  near,  —  so  near  that  we 

Could  in  the  silence  faintly  hear 
Their  songs  of  joyous  revelry. 

They  sang  the  lagging  hours  to  cheer. 
0,  who  that  ever  sailed  the  sea, 

And  has  been  becalmed  for  a  week  or  day, 
Has  not  felt  a  throb  of  sympathy 

For  the  stranger  sail  that  near  him  lay  ? 

"  T  was  noon.     Our  gallant  frigate  slept, 
And,  save  the  sound  of  the  light  guitar 
Where  the  merry  middies  their  revels  kept, 

While  one  sung  songs,  sung  better  far 
By  girls  he  'd  met  at  Newport  parties 
(A  simple  song  may  tell  you  —  ah, 
How  truly  ! — where  that  middy's  heart  is), 
Naught  broke  the  stillness  of  that  hour, 
For  a  calm  at  sea  has  a  soothing  power. 


THE    FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  63 

Some  of  us  walked  the  quarter-deck, 
Some  in  the  cabin  were  writing,  when, 

Before  a  word  or  thought  could  check, 
Rushing  aft  came  the  foremast  men. 

Every  cheek  was  pale  with  fear. 
Was  it  mutiny?  did  they  mean  to  rise 

And  seize  the  ship  ?    0,  no.    '  See  here ! 
Look  quick  ! '    I  looked  with  wild  surprise, 

And  saw,  just  over  our  larboard  bow, 
An  awful  creature,  with  horrid  head, 

So  near,  so  very  near  our  prow, 
With  eyes  that  glared  so  fierce,  so  red, 
That  I  think,  Miss  Wood,  if  the  captain 

and  you 

Had  been  there,  you  'd  have  been  fright 
ened  too.6 

"  Middies  and  crew  rushed  up  from  below, 
Every  one  asking  '  What 's  the  matter?' 

They  saw  the  frightful  monster.     0, 
Itow  their  teeth  began  to  chatter ! 

Storming  on  deck  the  captain  came  ; 


64  A    ROMANCE    OF 

'  What  means  this  ?   what 's  the  trouble 

now? 
To  your  stations ! '     Here  those   eyes  of 

flame, 

Steadily  staring  over  the  bow, 
Caught   the    captain's.     '  Heavens  !  '    he 

cried, 

And  stood  for  a  moment  stupefied,  — 
Only  a  moment ;   (  Clear  away 

The  forward  guns,  and  give  him  a  shot ! ' 
Doggedly  the  men  obey, 

Though  't  was  very  clear  they  'd  rather 

not. 

4  Out  with  a  boat !     I  would  like  to  know 
What  is  it  can  frighten  my  sailors  so  !  ' 

' 1 1  went  in  the  boat ;   there  were  men  with 

me, 
Who  had  roved  the  earth  and  sailed  the 

feL/tL  •  ••----"•-• 

All  fortunes,  climes,  and  shores  had  seen, — 
Through  battle,  fire,  and  shipwreck  been, — 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  65 

Every  desperate  chance  had  braved, — 
Fought  for  their  comrades  when  enslaved. 
Old  England  thought  her  bloody  flag, 

That  floated  '  in  its  pride  of  place,' 
Might  swoop  upon  our  fleets,  and  drag 

Our  men  to  chains  ;  the  deep  disgrace 
They  sought  to  heap  upon  us  then 

We  nobly  spurned,  as  freemen  should. 
0,  long  shall  they  remember  when 

We  on  the  seas  our  claims  made  good  ! 
For  frightful  wreck  and  anguished  groan 
Have  long  on  History's  page  made  known 

How  Hull's  brave  sailors  stood. 
We  dimmed  her  gleaming  cross  in  gore, 

And  taught  her,  though  an  infant  yet, 
That  sons  of  sires  who  fought  of  yore 

Had  not  forgot,  but  may  forget. 
Forgive  me,  but  that  fearful  strife 
Cost  me  a  much-loved  father's  life  ; 
That  war  was  fairly  fought ;   and  when 
Peace  with  its  blessings  came  again, 

0,  who  but  iron  men  like  these, 
6* 


66  A    ROMANCE    OF 

Who  fought,  but  mourned  both  friend 

and  foe, 
Could  see  our  banner  o'er  the  seas 

Borne  freely  as  the  winds  that  blow, 
Or  calm  the  warm  emotion  then 

That  burst  from  patriotic  lips, 
While  listening  nations  wondered  when 

They  heard  the  deeds  of  '  Yankee  ships?' 
Those  wars  are  o'er,  and  never  more 

May  earth  or  seas  be  cursed  again 
With, armies  battling  on  the  shore, 

Or  navies  on  the  main. 
Our  soil  is  rich  with  glittering  gold  ; 

Fair  Glory  is  an  empty  dream ; 
0,  then  keep  bright  the  links  unrolled, 

That  stretch  where  Albion's  white  cliffs 

gleam ! 
But  if  our  hearts  for  glory  glow,  — 

If  still  we. wish  to  feed  that  flame, — 
Study  the  fields  of  Mexico, 

Where  TAYLOR  won  a  deathless  name. 


THE   FASHIONABLE    WORLD.  67 

"  Honor  to  every  patriot's  soul, 

Honor  to  every  hero  there, 
Who  dared,  where  battle's  fires  roll, 

To  die,  —  to  show  what  freemen  dare  ! 
High  honor  to  the  storied  brave  ! 

High  honor  to  the  Chief  who  led  ! 
But  spurn  ye,  scorn  the  soulless  slave, 

Who  dares  defame  the  valiant  dead ! 

• 

But  not  alone  for  those  should  we 
Pour  forth  the  tide  of  sympathy. 

Let  Beauty's  blooming  cheek  grow  dim. 
For  all  who  dared  the  desperate  fight ; 

But  blush,  blush  deeper  still,  for  him 
Who  dares  not  deem  HIS  COUNTRY  right. 

Yes,  though  I  deeply  war  despise, 
And  hate  it  as  a  deadly  sin, 

The  love  of  country  still  denies 
The  thought  that  foes  the  field  should  win. 

Too  much  of  this  !  —  that  war  is  past ; 
0,  may  it  truly  be  *  our  last '  ! 


DO  A   ROMANCE   OP 

m. 
11  My  men  were  bold,  for  they  were  old  ; 

But  one  turned  round  and  said  to  Ben, 
'  This  is  a  savage  beast,  I  'm  told  ; 

I  wish  I  was  on  board  again. 
I  fought  with  Perry  on  the  lakes  ; 
But  hang  me  if  I  fight  with  snakes !  ' 
We  reconnoitred  him,  and  he 

Very  leisurely  eyed  us  keenly  ; 
He  did  n't  seem  disposed  to  flee, 

But  took  our  visit  quite  serenely. 
Just  then  a  boat  the  Northmen  sent, 

And,  quickly  to  our  frigate  rowing, 
Begged  leave  to  tell  to  Captain  Bent 

Something  that  they  thought  worth  his 

knowing. 
In  fact,  our  captain  wanted  much 

To  ask  the  Northmen  all  about  him  ; 
He  never  had  believed  in  such 

A  fish,  and  even  felt  disposed  to  doubt  him 
Now,  although  before  his  eyes, 
In  glittering  coils,  the  serpent  lies. 


THE   FASHIONABLE    WORLD.  69 

"  A  signal  came  for  our  recall, 

And  we  obeyed  the  order  gladly  ; 
The  Northmen  told  us  they  were  all 

Surprised  to  see  us  act  so  madly. 
'  Are  you  aware,'  their  captain  said, 

*  This  snake  has  power  to  sink  or   eat 

you  ? 
Our  sailors  hold  him  in  such  dread, 

That  I  have  come  here  to  entreat  you 
That  you  will  let  him  go  his  way, 
Nor  stir  his  anger  up  to-day  ;7 
For  once,'  said  he,  '  a  ship  of  mine 

"Was  sailing  with  another  ship, 
Not  far  from  here,  when  eight  or  nine 

Sea-serpents  came,  and  stopped  her  trip  ; 
For  one  of  them  —  a  savage  beast  — 

Leaped  o'er  between  her  masts,  and  sunk 

her  ; 
He  was  six  hundred  feet,  at  least, 

In   length,  —  so   swore   her   mate,  Joe 

Bunker. 

The  ship  was  lost,  and  only  Joe 
Escaped  these  Ormens8  of  the  Soe.' 


70  A    ROMANCE    OF 

(^The  serpent  thought,  beneath  the  yacht, 
'  Well,  that  is  droll,  now,  is  it  not  ? 
Besides,  I  think  it 's  rather  queer 
That  I  should  hear  of  it  down  here.') 

The  mate  declared,  '  Had  they  cast  some 

castor 

Out  of  the  vessel  into  the  sea, 
They  would  not  have  met  this  dire  dis 
aster  ; 

For  at  that  these  serpents  always  flee.'9 
At  this  the  Northmen  rose,  and  went  on 
Deck  ;   and  though  Captain  Bent  was  bent 

on 

Giving  the  creature  a  shot,  I  own 
I  am  glad  he  concluded  to  let  him  alone. 
The  Northmen  left  us,  and  rowed  away  ; 

And  at  every  stroke  their  oarsmen  gave, 
As  they  pulled  in  fear  through  the  glitter 
ing  spray, 

Aqua  vitse  and  castor  they  threw  in  the 
wave. 


THE    FASHIONABLE    WORLD.  71 


The  men  said  he  streaked  off  like  a  light 
ning-bug  ; 

And,  a  breeze  springing  up,  at  six  bells 
next  day 

We  anchored  not  far  from  Bergen  Bay." 

The  lieutenant's  story  was  over,  and  those 
Who   heard   it  prepared  for  their  night's 

repose  ; 

For,  truth  to  tell,  it  was  somewhat  late, 
And  they,  hoped  to  land  in  the   morning  at 

eight. 
Most  of  the  party  went  bilow  ; 

Nearly  all  believed  Hunt's  story, 
Except  the  captain  and  Miss  Wood,  —  so 
The  others  left  them  alone  in  their  glory. 
They  quietly  sat  and  talked  together, 
The  captain  doubting  very  much  whether 
A  sea-serpent  ever  swam  in  the  sea  ;  — 
But  list  to  the  snake's  soliloquy. 
' '  What  a  horrid  monster  that  Skip  must 

be! 


1Z  A    ROMANCE    OF 

He  '11  be  caught  by  some  of  our  family  ; 
One  by  one  these  doubting  men 
Drop  yearly  into  our  gloomy  den. 
Soe,  that  younger  brother  of  mine, 
Has  done  pretty  well  in  the  doubting  line  ; 
He  catches  one  now  every  evening  at  nine, 
And  at  dinner  he  always  declares  him  fine  ; 
He  tells  me  he  always  feels  stronger  and 

stouter, 

After  eating  the  most  inveterate  doubter. 
To-day,  to  be  sure,  I  killed  quite  a  lot ;  — 
I  wonder  if  they  were  doubters  or  not ! 
I  really  feel  quite  hungry  ;  it 's  plain 
It  is  nearly  time  to  feed  again." 
Just  at  this  moment  some  wicked  elf 
Prompted    the    captain   to   say  to  Miss 

Wood, 

"I  would  not  believe,  if  I  saw  him  my 
self!  " 

"  Neither  would  I.  It 's  rather  too  good 
That  st "    Up,  with  a  bound,  the  ser 
pent  came, 
Rushing  out  of  the  silent  sea, 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  73 

His  eyes  like  flashing  meteor's  flame  ! 

"  Turn  not  those  lovely  eyes  on  me  !  " 
That  was  all  Miss  Wood  could  scream, 

As  he  knocked  her  overboard  into  the 

ocean, 
And  seized  the  captain  ere  he  could  dream 

What  had  caused  this  awful  commotion. 
Into  the  waves  the  sailors  leap  ; 

Into  the  sea  the  serpent  is  leaping  ; 
Some  that  watch,  and  some  that  sleep, 

Never  more  shall  wake  from  sleeping,  — 

Never,  till  the  last  trump,  sweeping 
Over  earth  and  over  sea, 
Wakes  them  to  immortality. 

IV. 

Hunt  was  convinced,  by  the  screaming  that 

followed, 
That  those  who  jumped  over  were  instantly 

swallowed. 
The   water   flew   over   the   yacht's  white 

deck ; 

7 


74  A    ROMANCE    OF 

Her   foresail    and    boom   were   a   perfect 

wreck ; 

Nothing  was  left  for  poor  Hunt  to  do 
But  to  hunt  up  the  party,  and  muster  the 

crew. 
Skip,  and  Miss  Wood,  and  five  others,  not 

found, 
Were  lost,  and,  of  course,  either  eaten  or 

drowned ; 

One  a  pert  chambermaid,  —  the  ladies  re 
gret  her, 
Though  they  know  that  in  Boston  they  '11 

soon  get  a  better, 
When,  to  their  wonder,  this  pearl  beyond 

price 

Crawled  out  of  an  ice-bin,  eating  an  ice. 
Forbes   grieved   most   for   the    gay   Miss 

Wood. 

He  loved  her  well ;  her  matchless  orbs 
He  worshipped  ;  it  was  understood 

She   would   some   day   be  a  match  for 

Forbes. 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  75 

None  on  board  slept  more  that  night, 
And,  at  the  earliest  dawn  of  light, 
They  were  very  glad  to  finish  their  jaunt 
By  getting  ashore  in  their  boats  at  Nahant. 
They  found  Nahant  in  great  confusion ; 

Some  were  packing  up  to  go  away, 
Others  had  come  to  the  conclusion 

That  it  was  quite  as  safe  to  stay ; 
Some  were  for  getting  up  an  expe- 

Dition  to  go  and  catch  the  snake  ; 
Others  were  in  a  great  perplexi- 

Ty,  and  hardly  knew  just  what  to  make 
Of  it.     But  Forbes,  and  Hunt,  and  Albert 

said, 

They  'd  catch  the  serpent,  alive  or  dead. 
Hunt  took  the  yacht  direct  to  town, 

Had  her  repaired,  and,  with  four  six- 
pounders, 
He  hoisted  sail  again,  to  go  down 

To  Nahant  —  but  not  to  fish  for  floun 
ders. 
Albert  Prince  and  Forbes  were  ready, 


76  THE  FASHIONABLE   WORLD. 

With  a  gallant  crew  from  Nahant  and 

Lynn,    t 
All  stout  and  true.   The  wind  blew  steady. 

But  I  really  can't  stop  to  go  in- 
To  particulars,  —  nor  to  tell  you  how  they 

started, 

How  Miss  Percy  was  left  nearly  broken 
hearted, 

And  how  Miss  Bell  sighed  when    Dick 
Forbes  departed. 


CANTO    IV. 


"  In  the  blue  depth  of  the  waters, 

Where  the  wave  hath  no  strife, 
Where  the  wind  is  a  stranger, 
And  the  Sea  Snake  hath  life." 

"  They  tell  me  that  these  serpents  fling  themselves  in  a  wide  circle  round 
a  boat,  so  that  the  men  are  surrounded  on  all  sides  ;  and  that  they  will 
sometimes  raise  up  their  frightful  heads  and  snap  a  man  out  of  a  boat." 

.  PONTOPPIDAH,  p.  196,  sec.  4. 

"  They  told  me  of  a  Sea-Serpent,  or  Snake,  that  lay  quoiled  up  like  a 
cable  upon  a  rock  at  Cape  Ann." 

From  An  Account  of  Two  Voyages  to  New  England,  Anno  Dom. 
1638,  by  JOHS  JOSSELYS,  Gent. 


I. 

THERE  is  a  rock  in  the  middle  of  ocean 

Wild,  all  desolate,  rough,  and  bare  ; 
Round  it  the  waves,  in  continual  motion, 

Burst  on  the  shaggy  sea-weed  there. 
Sometimes  the  men  of  our  merchant  ships, 

Sailing  o'er  the  wondrous  main, 
See  it,  and  tell,  with  frightened  lips, 

That  on  chart  and  atlas  they  've  looked 
in  vain 

7* 


78  A   ROMANCE    OF 

To  find  it ;  but  many  a  gallant  bark, 

Dashing  over  the  ocean's  foam, 
Has  found  it,  when  the  skies  were  dark, 
And  never  more  was  welcomed  home. 
Lonely  it  stands  in  the  gloomy  wave, 
The  tombstone  of  many  a  sailor's  grave. 
'T  is  the  serpent's  throne  ;  and  there  he 

sat, 

Looking  so  savage,  so  fierce,  so  grim, 
That    none    of  his    courtiers    dared   to 

chat; 
Some  were  even  afraid  to  look  at  him. 

Two  hundred  feet  of  his  monstrous  length 
Were  coiled  round  the  rock  ;  two  hundred 

more 
Stood  waving  and  bright,  like  a  tower 

of  strength, 

While  he  sang  this  song,  with  a  hiss  and  a 
roar. 

SONG. 

I  am  the  Ichthyosaurian  old ; 

I  lived  in  the  world  before  the  flood  ; 


THE    FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  79 

* 
I  've  caught  many  a  fisherman  bold ; 

Our  tribe,  though  few,  are  of  ancient  blood. 
Chick  a  chi  long,  chi  long  chi  la  la. 

I  am  king  of  the  heaving  sea. 

None  dare  dispute  it ;  far  and  near 
The  fishes  all  look  up  to  me ; 

I  shall  reign  forever  here. 

Chick  a  chi  long,  chi  long  chi  la  la. 

The  devil-fish,10  his  prime  minister,  then 
Approached,  and  humbly  begged  he  'd 

step  down 
Into  their  little  private  den  ; 

He  did  so,  but  still,  with  a  fearful  frown, 
He  told  the  wolf-fish,  his  cook,  a  beginner, 
Not  to  spoil  the  soup  he  was  cooking  for 
dinner. 

Let  us  look  in  at  the  serpent's  den  :  — 
Grinning  skulls  of  doubting  men 
Were  ranged  on  one  side,  and  on  the  other 
Was  sitting  in  state  his  imperial  brother ; 


80  A   ROMANCE    OF 

i 

He  had  just  ground  a  new-caught  doubter 
to  powder, 

And  had  made  from  his  skull  a  ladle  for 
chowder. 

Friendly  their  greeting,  —  a  snap  and  a 
howl, 

A  social  hiss  and  a  kindly  growl ; 

Both  of  them  laughed,  and  the  devil-fish  he 

"  Grinned  a  ghastly  smile,"  from  sympathy. 

This  den  was  just  beneath  the  rock, 

Where  the  huge  waves  break  with  a  cease 
less  shock. 

One  by  one  the  family  came, 

With  bloody  fangs  and  eyes  of  flame ; 

However,  they  seemed  quite  ready  to  eat, 

Each  took  at  the  table  his  usual  seat. 

They  were  served  by  horrid  forms, 

Born  in  darkness  and  cradled  in  storms  ; 

Monsters,  that  'neath  the  dark  blue  waves 

Live  and  die,  in  ocean's  caves. 

A  dog-fish  was  lying  under  the  table, 
To  eat  the  crumbs  that  tumbled  there  ; 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  81 

The  minister  wanted  to  eat  him  ;  he  's  able 
To  do  so,  but  just  at  that  time  didn't 

care 

On  etiquette  so  far  to  trample, 
Unless  his  Highness  should  set  the  example. 
The  sharks  outside  smelt  the  steam  of  the 

victuals, 
They  came  in  the  kitchen  and  looked  into 

the  kettles  ; 

But  the  serpent  howled,  and  every  one 
Swam  off,  without  getting  so  much  as  a 

bone. 

After  dinner  a  school  of  whales 
Came  in  and  sung,  and  beat  time  with  their 

tails. 

Several  young  kraken.  of  noble  mien, 
A  mile  and  a  quarter  long  at  least, 
Declared  that  there  they  'd  no  more  be  seen, 
If  the  whales  were  to  sing  at  the  close 

of  the  feast. 

Just  at  this  moment  a  shout  was  heard ; 
Soe  was  out  of  the  den  like  a  bird, 


82  A    ROMANCE    OF 

And  in  less  than  a  minute  was    back  to 

say 
That  "  some  men  in  a  boat  are  coming  this 

way." 
Now  it  chanced  three  days  before, 

That  a  gallant  ship  was  burnt  at  morn- 


They  were  a  thousand  miles  from  shore, 
And  the  flames   had  given  so  brief  a 

warning, 

That  only  one  boat  was  saved,  and  she 
With  women  and  men  (say  twenty-three) 
Was  crowded,  —  a  wretched  company. 
In  fact,  they  were  getting  short  of  provision 
When   they  spied    this    rock  ;    and   fields 

Elysian 

Ne'er  looked  so  fair  to  a  poet's  view, 
As  that  rock  to  them,  in  the  ocean  blue. 
They  steered  for  the  rock,  and  were  coming 

near, 
When,  looking  down  through  the  waters 

clear, 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  83 

They  saw  something  swimming  under  the 

sea, 
And  they  wondered  much  what  that  fish 

could  be  ; 
Just  then  they  saw,  what  filled  them  with 

fear, 

Six  serpents  dash  round  them  in  full  career ; 
They  felt  at  the  sight  "  considerably  struck 

up;" 
But  shipwrecked  people  must   still  keep 

their  pluck  up. 
The  ladies  at  once  began  to  cry  ; 

Some  of  the  men  felt  disposed  to  mourn ; 
And,  had  you  been  there,  I  doubt  if  I 
Or  you  could  have  viewed  these  monsters 

borne 

By  the  waves  about  them,  or  ever  believed 
That  men  by  such  sights  could  be  deceived. 
Five  or  six  sharks  came  up  to  see 
If  of  any  service  they  could  be  ; 
The  devil,  dog-fish,  whales,  krakens  and  all, 
Forsook  for  a  while  the  banquet-hall. 


84  A    ROMANCE    OF 

In  spiral  curve,  and  glittering  ring, 

The  snakes  their  coils  round  that  doomed 

boat  fling, 

And  almost  before  you  could  think  or  look, 
One  of  the  crew  from  the  boat  they  took  ; 
That  was  our  serpent, —  but  Soe,  his  brother, 
In  a  moment  more  had  taken  another. 
The  sharks,  at  this,  went  half  mad  with 

glee, 

And  splashed  about  in  the  heaving  sea  ; 
While  the  whales  and  the  krakens  rejoiced 

beyond  measure, 
At  whatever  afforded  their  monarch  such 

pleasure, 
And  the  devil-fish  laughed,  and  looked  on 

at  his  leisure. 

Soe  turned  to  his  brother,  and  wanted  to  bet 
That  in  less  than  ten  minutes  he  'd  all  of 

them  get ; 

And,  then,  to  prove  he  was  good  as  a  better, 
He  came  up  'neath  the  boat,  and  just  over 
set  her. 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  85 

All  in  a  moment  were  eaten  then.  — 

So  they  went  down  to  their  banquet  again, 

And  sat  down  and  ate  and  drank  like  men. 

ii. 

They  had  not  sat  long,  when  their  monarch 

arose, 
And   said,  "I  feel   the   great  need  of 

healthful  diversion, 
And   have    therefore   decided,    if  no   one 

oppose, 
To  go  off  for  some  weeks  on  a  sea-side 

excursion. 

The  fact  is,  I  think  that  the  duties  of  state 
Have    somewhat   enfeebled    my   vigor    of 

late. 
I  have  therefore  concluded  to  shut  up  my 

house, 
To   throw  off  the   purple,  and   put  on  a 

blouse, 
And  for  some  weeks  at  least  in  the  sea-surf 

to  souse. 
8 


86  A   ROMANCE   OF 

If  any   remain   here,  why,  keep   up   my 

court ; 

My  squids  here  will  make  you  some  excel 
lent  sport.12 
I   shall    start    this    evening,    but    hardly 

know 

To  which  of  the  beaches  I  'd  better  go  ; 
Let  me  see,"  —  and  here  he  took  from  a 

heap 
Of  letters  some  circulars,  nicely  printed, 

Sent  by  those  clever  men  who  keep 
Hotels,  in  which  it  was  more  than  hinted 
That  nothing  would  give  them  half  so 

much  pleasure 
As  a  visit  from  him  for  a  month  or  week, 

And  hoped  he  'd  come,  if  he  had  leisure, 
Health,  strength,  and  fun  at  the  beach  to 

seek. 
He  read  them  through  with  a  careless 

air, 
And  said,    "  They  always  bore  me  with 

these ; 
Yet  I  've  half  a  mind  to  go,  I  declare, 


THE    FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  87 

And  teach  them  that  I  am  King  of  the 

Seas, 
And  should  go  if  I  chose  though  I  was  n't 

invited  ; 

Yet  I  own  it 's  pleasanter  not  to  be  slighted. 
And  now  let  me  see,  —  here  's  a  bushel 

or  more 
Notes  from  Newport,  Nahant,  and  a  few 

from  Nantasket, 
Cape  May,12  and  the  Pool,  and  all  along 

shore  ;  — 

Will  no  one  remove  this  notable  basket  ? 
I  shall  go ;    but  as  yet  I  cannot  tell 

where. 
If  a  sparkling  bay  woos  me,  perchance  I 

shall  linger ; 
But  give  me  good  fishing,  good  food,  and 

good  air, 
And  little  I  '11  care  where   fashion's   gay 

finger 

May  point ;  for  wherever  I  go  or  may 
be, 


88  A    ROMANCE    OF 

I  am  still  the  King,  the  King  of  the  Sea  ! 
Among    other    notes    there    is    one,    I 

observe, 
For     Commencement    at    Cambridge ;     a 

double  L.  D. 
They  intend   to    give   me,  which   they 

think  I  deserve 
For  my  knowledge  of  Ichthyology. 

I  start  this  evening  ;  but  ere  I  go 
On  this  tour,  which  perhaps  may  be  my  last, 

I  wish  all  my  subjects  here  below 
To  hurry  and  come  to  my  rescue  fast, 
If  they   chance   to   hear   me   give   the 

growl 

I  always  give  when  I  get  into  danger  ; 
And  then  you  must  come  with  a  rush  and 

a  howl, 

And  bring  with  you  every  ocean  ranger." 
With  this  parting  injunction  his  Majesty 

started, 

While  his  courtiers  looked  grave  when  their 
monarch  departed. 


w 

THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  89 


III. 

Out  on  the  sea,  out  on  the  sea, 

The  Hope  is  dashing  merrily  now, 
With  the  harbor  of  Newport  under  her  lee, 
And  the  white   spray  flying   over   her 

prow! 

On  !  on  !  how  she  parts  the  seething  wave  ! 
On  !    on !    how  she  shoots  through  the 

heaving  tide ! 

On !  on !    0,  what  is  a  sight  more  brave 
Than  a  white-winged  bird  on  the  waters 

wide  ? 
Away   she   has   fled,    and    the   glittering 

foam 
Seems    to    give    her   proudly   a   welcome 

home ; 

Hunt  and  Forbes  with  Prince  were  seen 
(As  near  the  fort  she  rounded  to, 

And  anchored),  with  dejected  mien, 
To  row  to  land  o'er  the  waves  of  blue. 
8* 


90  A    ROMANCE    OP 

And  had  you  been  in  the  great  saloon 
Of    the    Ocean    House,  where   of    course 

you  've  been, 
"Where   they  dance   at   morning,  night, 

and  noon, 
You  would  not  have  found  them  dancing 

then ; 
0,    no,  —  for   they   crowded   round   to 

hear 

This  very  tale  that  I  've  been  telling. 
0,  many  a  bright  eye  held  a  tear, 
While  many  a  breast  with  sorrow  swelling, 
Mourned   for   the    beauteous,  fair,  and 

good,— 
The  loved,  the  lost,  the  gay  Miss  Wood ! 

However  deep  our  sorrow  flows, 
Perhaps  our  joy  flows  deeper  ; 

Say,  who  grieves  most  for  secret  woes, 
The  silent  or  the  weeper  ? 

They  told,  besides,  that  they  had  been 
On  a  cruise  to  find  the  cruel  snake, 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  91 

And  had  come  to  Newport  for  aid  and 

men, 

And  hoped  that  all  would  a  crusade  make 
To  catch   him.     "  And  so  we  will !  " 

cried  all ; 
"  But  wait  till  after  the  fancy  ball." 

IV. 

There  is  a  class,  —  'tis  rapidly  increasing 
Within    this    empire   that   we   proudly 

hold,- 

Who,  toiling  on,  with  labor  never  ceasing, 
Have  won  at  last  in  heaps  the  glittering 

gold  ;— 
These   go   to   Newport.     There  you   find 

assembled 
Bright    eyes ;    wealth,  beauty,  genius, 

fashion  ; 
Fair   belles,  before  whose  wit   some  men 

have  trembled, 

And   sought  in   vain   to   soothe   love's 
gentle  passion, 


92  A    ROMANCE   OF 

Until  at  last,  by  sympathy  grown  tender, 
They  at  the  altar  mutually  surrender. 
Newport  was  now  in  great  commotion  ; 

Each  tide  of  passion,  love,  and  feeling, 
Each  hope  that  ruffles  life's  dull  ocean, 

Was  there  revealed.     0,  what   reveal^ 

ings 
Those  fifteen  chandeliers  could  make, 

That  deck  that  gorgeous  banquet  hall, 
Could  you  their  depositions  take 

Of  what  they  heard  at  last  year's  ball ! 
Soft  sighs,  and  softer  speeches  breathed 

In  willing  ears  beneath  that  dome, 
"While     gorgeous     dress,    with    diamonds 
wreathed, 

Outshone  the  carnival  at  Rome. 
And  beauty  thronged  from  far  and  near 

To  catch  some  little  gleam  of  fame,  — 
To  have  it  whispered  in  her  ear, 

"  My  dear  Miss  A.,  I  see  your  name 
Is  mentioned  in  to-day's  Gazette  ; 

And  what  is  more,  most  charming  beauty, 


THE    FASHIONABLE    WORLD.  93 

'Tis  said  that  you  eclipsed  your  set, 

And  won  from  all  especial  duty." 
Brave  days  !  —  and    bravely  looked    each 
guest. 

0,  long  keep  bright  this  pageant  show, 
Where  NORTH  and  SOUTH,  and  EAST  and 
WEST, 

From  Montreal  to  Mexico, 
May  meet,  —  but  not  as  sometimes  met 

At  Washington,  they  talk  and  FIGHT 
O'er  party  schemes,  and  groan  and  fret 

To  make  right  wrong,  and  wrong  seem 

right. 
If  folly  sometimes  thither  strays, 

'T  is  lost  in  fashion's  brilliant  blaze  ; 
And  I  have  often  doubted  whether 

This  Union,  framed  with  sword  and  pen, 
Would  have  of  late  years  held  together, 

Had  no  such  place  as  Newport  been. 
Well,  all  was  here  in  great  confusion  ; 

And  beaux  and  belles  and  fond  mammas 


94  A    ROMANCE    OP 

Had  made  some  matches  whose  conclusion. 

Was  sure,  provided  dear  papa's 
Consent,  and  cash,  and  blessing  granted, 
Should  give  the  bliss  for  which  they  panted. 
The  ball  would  soon  take  place,  and  that 
Of  course  filled  all  the  morning  chat ; 
The  sail,  the  dance,  the  dashing  ride, 
Were  half  forgotten,  while  with  pride 
Each  belle  within  her  own  dear  room 
Dons  veil  and  jacket,  cap  and  plume, 
And  doubts,  and  doubts,  and  doubts  again, 
About  that  costume  and  this  train, 
And  wonders  if  she  cannot  get 
Something  that 's  more  distingue  yet. 
She  who  would  never  "  be  a  nun  " 
Decides  that  evening  to  be  one, 
And  win  that  beau,  if  she  can  win  him, 
Who  has  such  life  and  small  talk  in  him. 
Bohemian  girls,  and  gypsies  too, 
Were  every  entry  dashing  through 
To  ask  a  lady  or  mamma 
About  this  jewel  or  that  star. 


THE    FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  95 

Down    stairs,    just    then,    those   veteran 
smokers 

Forgot  to  smoke  ; 
While  George  and  Ben,  those  jolly  jokers, 

Forgot  to  joke, 
And  Congressmen,  poor  party  croakers, 

Forgot  to  croak. 
The  dear,  delightful  fancy  ball 
Engaged  both  young  and  old  and  all. 
In  other  times  Dick  Forbes  had  been 

Within  his  element ;  but  now 
He  sat  apart,  nor  cared  for  men. 

With  downcast  eyes  and  gloomy  brow 
He  seized  his  harp,  and  woke  a  strain ; 

But  not  of  joy  or  gladsome  mirth 
He  sang,  for  0,  he  felt  how  vain, 

How  fleeting,  are  the  joys  of  earth  ! 

SONG. 

I. 

If  all  the  world  were  happy, 
If  every  one  was  blest, 


96  A    ROMANCE    OF 

If  all  were  free  from  misery, 

From  trouble  and  unrest, 
If  the  mind  were  free  from  sorrow, 

The  body  free  from  pain, 
Death  a  double  pang  would  borrow ; 

But  now,  "  to  die  is  gain." 

II. 
If  the  sunny  skies  of  childhood 

Were  to  float  forever  near, 
If  the  leaves  that  deck  the  wildvvood 

Were  never  to  be  sere, 
If  joys  in  troops  descended 

To  gild  life's  barren  plain, 
Who  would  wish  this  fair  world  ended,  m 

Or  would  feel  "  to  die  is  gain  "  ? 

Albert  Prince  caught  the  sad  refrain, 
Arid  he  turned  to  Forbes  and  gently  said, 

"  I  truly  feel  '  to  die  were  gain,' 
Could  I  follow  where  my  Cora  fled ; 

But  at  present  I  hope  to  live,  and  take 

Before  I  die  that  fearful  snake." 

Newport  never  before  nor  since 


THE    FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  97 

Held  two  such  sad  and  gloomy  men 
As  Richard  Forbes  and  Albert  Prince, 

Nor  soon  shall  see  their  like  again. 
So  let  us  leave  them,  and  follow  the  wake, 
For  a  moment,  of  this  most  horrible  snake. 

v. 

Out  on  the  sea,  out  on  the  sea, 
The  snake  is  swimming  happy  and  free  ; 
He  's  left  Cape  Ann  with  every  sense  bent 
On  reaching  Cambridge  by  Commencement. 
He  shoots  along,  while  every  wave 
Its  phosphorescent  brightness  gave  ; 
And  now  old  Boston's  outer  light 
Gleamed  on  his  eye  serenely  bright. 
He  passed  the  forts,  and  left  the  bay ; 
Up  by  Long  Wharf  he  held  his  way, 
Gained  the  mouth  of  our  own  Charles  River, 
Saw  the  lights  of  East  Cambridge  quiver ; 
The  pedestrians  on  the  bridge  all  shiver, 
And  wonder  what  't  is  that  splashes  the 
water, 

9 


98  A    ROMANCE    OF 

While  the  serpent  swims  on,  with  his  mind 

bent  on  slaughter. 
Next  he  came  where,  o'er  the  tide, 
West  Boston  Bridge  throws  its  arches  wide, 
And  there  he  paused  a  moment  to  wonder 
Whether  he  'd  better  go  over  or  under. 
Two  Sophs  just  then  were  driving  out, 
With  echoing  song  and  ringing  shout, 
Each  passer-by  in  choice  Greek  hailing, 
When  at  the  moment  o'er  the  railing 
The  serpent  stuck  his  awful  mug  ;  he 
Startled  the  horses,  they  turned  the  buggy 
Over,  and  left  each  frightened  student 
Wondering  what  could  be  imprudent 
Enough  to  stop  them  on  that  highway, 
And  mourning  much  that  they  'd  have  to 

pay 

For  a  runaway  team  and  a  broken  railing ; 
For  they  found  next  day  that  no  prevailing 
Of  theirs  on  the  watchmen  could  make  them 
aware 


THE    FASHIONABLE    WORLD.  99 

That  they  had  met  with  the  sea-serpent 

there. 

Quietly  up  the  river  he  swum  ; 
Cambridge  little  guessed  what  a  guest  had 

come. 
He  heard  the  boat-club's  rollicking  chorus, 

And  listened  with  joy  to  the  jolly  stave, 
As  they  sang,   "Put   off,   while   full  be 
fore  us 

Hope's  beacon  shines  to  cheer  the  brave ! " 
Out  of  the  silent  river  he  crept, 

And  hied  him  away  to  the  college  yard ; 
A  proctor's  eye,  that  never  slept, 

Caught  his,  and  said,  "  May  I  be  tarred 
And  feathered  if  some  of  the  Freshmen  class 

Are  not  building  a  bonfire  there  to-night !  • 
See  how  that  lamp  illumes  the  grass ! 

I  must  reconnoitre  and  set  things  right." 
The  proctor  has  donned  his  darkest  cloak, 

And  sallied  out  in  the  midnight  damp  ; 
No  sound  save  his  tread  the  silence  broke, 


100  A    ROMANCE    OF 

But  brighter  and    brighter   flamed  the 

lamp, 
Till,  horror  of  horrors  !  there  burst  on  his 

view 

Something  or  other,  he  hardly  knew  what ; 
And  instead  of  one  lamp,  there  now  seemed 

two. 
Still,  as  if  charmed,  he  moved  towards 

the  spot ; 

He  now  gets  a  glimpse  of  the  hideous  mass : 
"  A  string  of   tar-barrels    strung    in    the 

grass, 

And  these  two  lamps  to  set  them  blazing  ; 
By  George  !     Now  this  is  quite  amazing." 

He  raised  his  cane  with  his  right  hand  high, 
And  struck  a  blow  at  the  monster's  eye. 
The  serpent  at  this  gave  a  fearful  bound, 

Dashing  the  proctor  far  away, 
Who  exclaimed,  the  moment  he  came  to 
the  ground, 

"  I  shall  report  you,  sir,  to-day  ! 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  101 

Yes,  sir,  I  '11  report  you  to  the  Presideat ; 

And  whether  you  're  student  now,  or  resi 
dent 

Graduate,  nothing,  I  fear,  from  your  fate 
can  excuse  you, 

And  naught  can  redeem  from  the  hate  that 
pursues  you." 

Nor  was  the  proctor  aware  in  the  mood 

Potential  he  would  himself  be  pursued. 

The  Saurian  rose  with  an  angry  hiss. 

0,  woe  betide  that  proctor  then  ! 
He  ne'er  before  met  foe  like  this, 

And  ne'er  shall  meet  such  foe  again. 
The  serpent  has  got  him  fast  by  the  leg  ; 

Mercy  !  list  to  his  fearful  screams  ! 
It 's  vain  for  mercy  from  him  to  beg. 

Some  students,  nodding  over  their  themes, 

Start,  yawn,  and  stretch,  and  relapse  into 

dreams. 
The  snake,  however,  turned  to  flee,  — 

Leaving    the    proctor,     as     he     thought, 
dead, — 


Q# 


102  A   ROMANCE    OF 

And  then  climbed  up  in  Liberty  Tree, 
And  a  tract  on  Ichthyology  read. 

VI. 

The    students,    next    morning,    going    to 
prayers, 

Found  the  snake  coiled  up  on  the  chapel 
stairs  ; 

And  not  far  off  from  Gore  Hall,  't  is  said, 

The  proctor  lay  quite  bloody  and  dead, 

As  they  thought ;   but,  when  they  called  a 
doctor, 

They  found  life  lingered  within  the  proc 
tor. 

To  be  sure,  his  leg  was  nearly  bitten 
Off,  and  the  hand  that  holds  the  pen 

"Would  ne'er  look  well  save  a   glove   or 
mitten 

Were  wrapped  around  it ;   still,  what  then 

Could  be  done  was  done.     Ware  and  Mor 
ton 

Came  from  Boston  the  leg  to  shorten  ; 


THE    FASHIONABLE    WORLD.  103 

Morton  gave  first  a  dose  of  ether, 

And  he  's  the  first  who  ever  gave  it ; 
Nor  sinful  man,  nor  woman  either, 

Had  had  it  as  they  freely  have  it 
Now,  had  not  our  gallant  Morton, 
'Mid  jeers  and  sneers,  in  silence  wrought  on, 
Until  he  fairly  taught  the  nation 
"  There  's  pleasure  in  an  amputation." 
Besides,  in  Washington  they  say, 
Morton  has  fairly  won  the  day  ; 
In  spite  of  this,  there  is  a  faction 
Who  blindly  worship  Dr.  Jackson. 
Well,  all  the  professors,  students,  and  men 
In    Cambridge,   fought  with   the    serpent 

then; 
However,  his  Snakeship  at  last  got  off, 

Scrambled  down  street  and  into  the  tide, 
Knocked  down  a  shed  on  the  college  wharf, 

Killing  two  men  at  their  work  inside. 
The  serpent  swims  hastily  down  the  Charles, 
And  at  every  bridge  he  growls  and  snarls. 


CANTO    V. 


"  Apem.    What  a  coil 's  here  !  " 

Timon  of  Athens,  Act  I.  Scene  2. 

"  Tit.    If  the  winds  rage,  doth  not  the  sea  wax  mad, 

Threatening  the  welkin  with  his  big-swollen  face  f 
And  wilt  thou  have  a  reason  for  this  coil  ?  " 

Titus  Andronicus,  Act  III.  Scene  1. 

"  Stands  a  maiden,  on  the  morrow, 

Musing  by  the  wave-beat  strand, 
Half  in  hope  and  half  in  sorrow, 
Tracing  words  upon  the  sand. 
1  Shall  I  ever  then  behold  him 
Who  hath  been  my  life  so  long  — '  " 

JAMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL. 

"  And  listen  to  the  harp  and  horn, 
And  see  the  waltzers  near  and  far  ; 
The  lamps  and  flowers  are  bright  as  yet." 

N.  P.  WILLIS. 

"  Trin.    A  strange  fish  !     Were  I  in 

England  now  (as  once  I  was),  and 

Had  but  this  fish  painted, 

*    *    *    There  would  this  monster  make  a  man." 

Tempest,  Act  II. 

"  '  It 's  nothing  but  a  porpoise,  sir,  that 's  been  a  swimming  past,' 
Out  spoke  the  ancient  fisherman  ;  '  now  bring  me  my  harpoon  !• 
I  '11  get  into  my  fishing-boat,  and  fix  the  fellow  soon.'  " 

0.  W.  HOLMES. 

'These  things  beheld  in  dismay  the  crowd  on  the  shore  and  on  ship 
board." 

H.  W.  LONGFELLOW. 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  105 

I. 

OUT  on  the  sea,  out  on  the  sea, 
The  serpent  is  loafing  lazily, 
Wondering  if  poor  pigmy  men 
Will  dare  to  fight  with  him  again, 

And  thinking  what  he  had  better  do 
With  his  precious  self  for  the  rest  of  the 
week, — 

Wondering  much  if  anything  new 
Has  turned  up  at  Newport,  where  thousands 
seek 

Fashion  and  fun,  or  health  and  quiet, 

With  good  sea  air,  and  good  fish  diet. 
"At  all  events  I  '11  go  down  and  see 
If  the  beaux  and  belles  have  forgotten  me." 
He  arrives  at  Newport ;  —  with  vast  sur 
prise 

He  sees  the  Hope  moored  quietly  there. 
At  first,  he  almost  doubts  his  eyes ; 

He  gave  her  a  most  amazing  stare, 
And  thought  it  strange  that  yacht  should 
be 


106  A    ROMANCE   OF 

There,  that  he  meant  to  have  sunk  in  the 

sea. 
Now  this  was   the  night   of  the  fancy 

ball,- 

That  dear,  delightful,  brilliant  time, — 
And  every  one  there,  both   great   and 

small, 
Had  decided  to  make  the  affair  sublime — 

And  so  they  did.     Hark  !   the  strains 
Of  the  Steyerrnarkische  band  arise, 

From  that  gay  saloon,  while  Turks  and 

Banes, 

With  Jews,  and  Monks,  and  gay  Paul  Prys, 
Counts,    Druids,    Sibyls,    Lords,     and 

Sprites, 
Medoras,  Corsairs,  Conrads,  Brides, 

Auroras  with  their  captive  knights, 
Draw  near.     Mirth,  love,  and  joy  presides, 
As  gathering  in  their  pride  they  pour 
Through  lighted  hall  and  corridor. 
0,  bright  are  the  hues  of  the  high  Alpine 
snows. 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  107 

When  they  flash  back  the  sun  from  far 

up  the  mountain ! 

Kefreshing  and  cool  is  the  blush  of  the  rose 
That  bends  in  its  purity  over  the  foun 
tain  ; 

Warm  are  the  blushes  that  mantle  the  cheek 
Of  the  maid,  as  she  curbs  her  palfrey's 

proud  prancing  ; 
Pure   are  the  pearls   that  the   sea-divers 

seek 
Where    the  waves   of  the  far   Eastern 

ocean  are  glancing  ; 
Fair  are  the  blossoms  that  brighten  the 

trees, 
Blue  are  the  waters  that  sparkle  beneath 

them  ; 
Sweet  are  the  songs  of  the  birds  on  the 

breeze  ; 
Bright  gleam  their  sabres  when  heroes 

unsheathe  them ;  — 

So  blushing,  bright,  fair,  pure,  gentle,  and 
mild, 


108  A    ROMANCE    OF 

Came  earth's  fairest  flowers  in  throngs  ; 

and  the  bloom 
Of  each  cheek  seemed  to  glow  with  new 

joy  as  it  smiled, 
Forgetful  of  sadness,  care,  sorrow,  and 

gloom. 
As  they  moved  through  the  dance,  in  their 

warm  beauty  blushing, 
Their  eyes  sparkled  bright  as  a  moon 
lit-tipped  wave, 
While  the  laugh  and  the  song,  so  rich  in 

its  gushing, 
Was    richer   than   gem   in   old    earth's 

deepest  cave. 
Eorbes  sighed  as  he  gazed,  and,  in  lost 

admiration, 

He  deemed  it  might  be  some  deep  magi 
cal  spell 
That  had  stole  o'er  his  spirits  in  gentle 

gradation,  — 

How  he  feared  it  would  vanish  words 
never  can  tell. 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  109 

If  they  spoke,  their  dear  words  (will  beaux 

ever  forget  them  ?) 
Fell  harmonious  and   sweet  from  each 

musical  tongue, 
While  their   lips,   and  the  pearls   that  so 

radiantly  lit  them, 
Breathed    soft    as    the    harp   by   angel 

hands  strung. 

0,  tell  us  where  else  are  nymphs  so   en 
chanting  ! 
What   scenes  from  the    past    can  fond 

memory  call, 
That  like  these  the  day-dreams  of  belles 

are  still  haunting, 
When  in  fancy  they  float  through  the 

gay  Newport  ball  ? 
One  lady  from  the  "Empire  State," 

With  yellow  jacket,  cap  and  boots, 
With  mirthful  eye,  and  air  elate, 

The  palm  with  many  a  belle  disputes 
Another  from  those  "  classic  shades," 
10 


110  A    ROMANCE    OF 

Where    knowledge    bursts    spontaneous 

forth, 

Outshines  in  beauty  all  the  maids 
That  gather  from  the  wealthy  North. 

Here  Love  with  Night  and  morning  came, 
With    Shepherds,   Gypsies,    Nuns,  and 
Princes, 

To  light  in  every  breast  a  flame, 

That,  burning  brightly,  soon  convinces 

Soldiers,  Sailors,  Cavalieros, 

That  Love  can  vanquish  even  heroes. 

They  were  dancing  merrily  there, 

When  the  serpent  came  and  looked  in  at 

the  casement ; 

He  had  never  before  seen  aught  so  fair. 
He   was   struck   at   once    with   a  wild 

amazement, 

And  declared  he  never  could  understand 
How  they  got  up  such  splendid  affairs  on 
land, 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  Ill 

And  vowed  that  a  very  costly  beaver 

He  'd  send  to-morrow  to  Mr.  Weaver. 

At  that  window,  beneath  the  shade  of  the 

curtain, 

Two  lovers,  a  Knight  and  a  Gypsy,  sat ; 
That  lovers  like  such  nooks  is  certain,  — 
If  you  please,  see  "  The  Fable  for  Crit 
ics  "*  for  that; 

And  it 's  equally  true  that  a  cosey  chat 
Is  vastly  more  agreeable  and  pleasant 
When  there  's  no  disagreeable  third  party 

present. 
They  supposed,  of  course,  they  were  quite 

alone,  — 

As  much  alone  as  a  couple  can  be, 
Where  some  eight  or  nine  hundred  people 

are  thrown 

Together  for  mirth  and  revelry. 
They  heard  the  bugle's  call  —  the  tone 

That  bids  hurrying  waltzers  gather  fast ; 
But  still  they  chose  to  sit  alone, 

*  By  James  Russell  Lowell. 


112  A   ROMANCE    OF 

Nor  cared  for  the  dancers  flitting  past. 
They  were  talking  of  happy  hours  gone  by, 

And  of  happy  days  in  years  to  coine, 
When  they  saw  through  the  glass  a  flaming 

eye, 
That   struck   them  at  once  with  terror 

dumb. 
He  came  through  the  window ;    the  Gypsy 

and  Knight 

Screamed,  as  they  ran  in  terror  away. 
Some  of  the  ladies  fainted  with  fright, 
While   others  thought  it  "  part  of  the 

play;" 

For  they  knew  that  De  Jonge  was  so  cun 
ning  and  clever 

He  could  get  up  a  snake,  or  the  deuce,  or 
whatever 

Strange  costume  you  liked  or  wanted  to 
wear  ; 

But  they  never  once  dreamed  the  Sea- 
Serpent  was  there. 


fc 

THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  113 

However,  when  something  like  five   hun 
dred  feet 

Had  uncoiled  through  the  window,  they 
felt  slightly  queer, 

And  decided   the    costume  was  far   more 

complete 

Than  anything  else  they  had  met  with 
this  year. 

The  serpent  immediately  saw,  with   sur 
prise, 

That   they  thought   it  was   only  a  clever 
disguise  ; 

So  he  stepped  up  and  asked  a  young  Ve 
nus  to  dance  ; 

But  she  swooned,  and  was  borne  from  the 
hall  in  a  trance. 

At  this  there  arose  a  most  awful  commo 
tion  ; 

Some  jumped  out  of  windows,  some  van 
ished  through  doors ; 

The  snake  now  wished  himself  back  in  the 
ocean, 


114  A   ROMANCE    OF 

And   sincerely  the  loss  of  his  partner 

deplores. 
One   man,  who  had  come  in  his  no-top 

wagon, 
In  the   dress  of  the   Knight  who  fought 

with  the  Dragon, 

Drove  off  with  speed  from  the  coining  fray, 
And  was  never  more  seen,  —  so  the  gos 
sips  say  ;  — 

Something  caught  him  along  the  road, 
And  the  horse  went  off  with  a  lighter  load. 
Meanwhile,  a  fearful  fight  went  on  ;  — 

Officers  rushed  for  their  pistols  ;   others, 
Including  many  a  Duke  and  Don, 

Rushed   to   their   sweethearts   or    their 

mothers. 
Shot,  and  shouts  of  wild  dismay, 

Usurped  the  place  of  mirth  and  laugh 
ter  ; 
The  serpent  flees  as  best  he  may, 

While  all  of  Newport  follows  after. 
This  was  a  regular  break-neck  chase. 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  115 

"  The  devil  take  the  hindmost "  now 
Was  still  the  cry  ;  but,  in  this  race, 

The  serpent,  who  had  caused  the  row, 
Decided  he  would  quite  reverse 

The  maxim  —  so  he  swiftly  wheeled, 
And  caught  the  first;  and  what  was  worse, 

The  fog  and  night  so  far  concealed 
The  snake,  that  those  who  were  rushing  on 

To  catch  him  very  soon  were  caught, 
And  quickly  eaten,  one  by  one. 

The  crowd  behind  them  only  thought 
That  they  had  vanished  in  the  gloom, 
Nor  knew  they  of  their  living  tomb. 

On  came  the  crowd  with  cheer  and  shout ; 

But  they  saw  the  serpent  stand  at  bay, 
And  quickly  they  faced  to  the  right  about, 

And  ran  as  fast  the  other  way. 
The  serpent  did  not  care  to  pursue  them ; 
He  only  meant  with  his  looks  to  subdue 
them  ; 


116  A    ROMANCE    OF 

So  he  quietly  turned  to  that  wave-washed 

beach, 
And  in  less  than  a  minute  was  out  of  their 

reach. 

n. 

After  the  ball  there  are  very  few  stay, 

When  it 's  really  fairly  over, 
Although  I  would  rather  advise  them  to, 

For  then  you  truly  "  live  in  clover." 
The  servants,  having  less  to  do, 
Devote  themselves  with  zeal  to  you  ; 
And,  besides  the  usual  loaves  and  fishes, 
You  get  the  best  of  the  nicest  dishes. 
Therefore,  if  wise,  you  had  better  stay ; 
It 's  only  the  snobs  that  go  away 
Next  morning,  or  the  next  day  after, 
Unless,  perhaps,  a  bill,  or  draft,  or 
Note,  that 's  been  for  some  months  due, 
You  're  obliged  to  pay  next  day  at  two  — 
Then  go  ;   protested  notes  are  matters 

That  very  rarely  bother  beaux. 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  117 

They  pay  their  tailors  and  their  hatters, — 

But  how  they  do  it  no  one  knows. 
"  Last  noon  beheld  them  full  of  lusty  life; 
Last  eve,  in  Beauty's  circle  proudly  gay ; 
The  midnight  brought  the  signal-sound  of 

strife  ; 
The  morn,  the  marshalling  in  arms  ;  the 

day" 
Saw  twenty  yachts  go  dashing  down  the 

bay, 

While  far  behind  fair   Newport's  towers 
lay. 

Out  on  the  sea,  out  on  the  sea, 

The  fleet  is  dashing  merrily. 

All  had  decided  at  once  to  go 

With  Hunt  in  pursuit  of  the  common  foe  ; 

He  has  command  ;   Forbes  and  Prince  — 

Haggard  and  sad  with  grim  despair  — 
Are  with  him.     They  have  been  brothers 
since 

They  lost  their  loves  in  that  sad  affair 


118  A   ROMANCE   OF 

At   Nahant,    and   now  they  are  going 
there. 

They  arrived  ;   and  as  the  fleet  drew  near, 

Miss  Percy  descried  Hunt's  signal-flag, 
And  hurried  off  at  once  to  the  pier ; 

While  many  a  group,  on  cliff  and  crag, 
With  fluttering  dress  and  gypsy  bonnets, 

And  parasols  that  shaded  brows 
Worthy  of  even  Petrarch's  sonnets, 

The  dread  of  bucks  and  hostile  cows, 
Stood   with   their    streaming   shawls    and 

veils, 

And  courted,  with  their  beaux,  the  gales. 
Just  then,  with  "  sail  and  signal  spread," 

A  gallant  ship,  with  crowded  deck, 
Before  the  freshening  breezes  fled, 

Unmindful  of  the  storm  or  wreck. 
They  were  bound  for  the  glittering  land  of 
gold, 

Where    our  western   summits   kiss   the 
sky; 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD."  119 

And   they  loudly  sang,   as   they  onward 

rolled, 
This  song  to  a  popular  melody  : 

CALIFORNIA    SONG. 
I. 

We  sail  —  our  gallant  vessel 

Careers  before  the  blast, 
Yet  "  swifter  than  the  thoughts  of  love  " 

Come  visions  of  the  past. 
Fast,  fast  thy  shores,  New  England, 

Are  fading  through  our  tears, 
Yet  warm  the  lovely  landscape 

That  busy  memory  rears. 

CHORUS. 

Pledge,  brothers,  pledge, 
While,  circled  hand  in  hand, 

We  swear  that  our  good  bark  shall  bear 
True  patriots  to  that  strand. 

II. 

No,  not  to  found  an  empire 
We  seek  our  western  strand ; 


120  A   ROMANCE    OF 

When  we  spy  its  piercing  mountains, 

We  but  hail  our  native  land ; 
For  there  our  banner  waveth, 

And  we  only  seek  to  bind 
Another  link  of  Union 

With  the  thirty  here  entwined. 

III. 
Can  we  give  up  the  glory 

Our  valiant  fathers  gave, 
When  they  sought  on  Plymouth's  holy  rock 

A  refuge  from  the  wave  ? 
Long  kept  they  faith  with  England, 

And  many  sorrows  bore ; 
For  0,  they  loved  their  "father  land," 

That  distant,  happy  shore  ! 

IV. 
No,  dreamers  of  ambition, 

Who  "  go  with  hearts  elate 
To  build  another  empire, 

To  found  another  state," 
Ye  little  know  the  workings 

Of  the  stern  New  England  mind. 


THE   FASHIONABLE    WORLD.  121 

If  ye  hope  to  see  the  people 
To  your  busy  schemes  resigned. 

v. 

"  To  found  another  empire,"  — 

Ah  !  but  it  still  shall  be 
An  offshoot  of  the  parent  stem, 

A  scion  of  the  tree  ; 
To  set  another  brilliant 

In  the  azure  of  our  flag, 
That  long  shall  float  in  splendor 

From  shore  and  lofty  crag. 

VI. 

Avaunt !   ye  idle  dreamers, 

Who  think  that  men  must  be 
Divided  by  a  river, 

Or  embittered  by  a  sea  ! 
We  will  teach  the  world  a  lesson 

That  we  freemen  ne'er  forget; 
Howe'er  asunder  driven, 

We  're  a  band  of  brothers  yet. 
11 


122  A    ROMANCE   OF 

CHORUS. 

Pledge,  brothers,  pledge, 

While,  circled  hand  in  hand, 
We  swear  that  our  good  bark  shall  bear 

True  patriots  to  that  strand. 

On  sped  the  ship,  —  the  song  was  o'er, 
As  Hunt  and  his  party  reached  the  shore. 
Mine  host  was  delighted,  of  course,  to  see 
Such  hosts  of  brilliant  company. 
Yet  dance  nor  revel,  mirth  nor  song, 

Nor  aught  that  cheers  life's  gloomy  way, 
Nor  love  that  binds  with  fetters  strong, 

Could  "  bribe  them  for  delay." 
Sue  Forbes  may  vainly  tune  her  lute, 

Miss  Percy  bid  them  stay  ; 
For  Hunt  declares,  —  and  none  dispute 

The  will  that  all  obey,  — 
That  when  the  dawn  shall  gild  the  east 

The  signal  will  be  given, 
And  every  yacht  must  sail  at  least 

By  six  or  half-past  seven. 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  123 

For  they  have  heard  that  in  the  bay 

Of  Gloucester  the  serpent  is, 
And  they  must  sail  at  once  away  ; 

Their  hope  of  him  so  fervent  is, 
That,  though  Sue  Forbes  would  gladly  keep 

Prince  with  the  beaux  that  throng  her, 
His  heart  is  on  the  raging  deep, 

Nor  dares  he  linger  longer. 
So  swiftly  from  her  glancing  eyes 

Love's  hurtling  arrows  shoot, 
You  love,  although  your  tongue  denies 

To  plead  the  tender  suit. 
So  Prince  admired  ;   still  surprise 

And  sorrow  kept  him  mute. 

m. 

Sue  Forbes,  although  it 's  out  of  date 

To  keep  an  album,  kept  one, 
From  which  she  learned  that  cruel  fate 

Might  rend  all  hearts  except  one 
Heart,  and  that  of  course  was  hers  ; 

That  never  should  be  broken, 


124  A    ROMANCE    OF 

Until  hot  Hottentots  wear  furs, 
Or  truth  by  beaux  be  spoken. 

This  album  then,  with  playful  air, 

She  gave  at  once  to  Prince  ; 
He  took  it  with  an  absent  stare, 

That  truly  would  convince 
The  merest  looker-on  that  he 

Was  wrapt  in  gloomy  revery. 
He  was  her  brother's  truest  friend, 

She  was  her  brother's  only  sister  ; 
She  begged  that  he  would  condescend 

(And  how  could  Prince  resist  her  ?) 
To  write  her  something  ere  he  sailed  ; 
Nor  need  I  say  that  Sue  prevailed. 
That  night,  as  in  his  lonely  room 

He  sat  preparing  for  the  morrow, 
His  brow  forgot  its  usual  gloom, 

His  mind  forgot  its  usual  sorrow  ;  — 
He  looks  upon  the  waning  moon, 

He  gazes  on  the  heaving  deep  ; 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  125 

Then  takes  with  trembling  hand  his  pen, 
And  writes  these  lines  while  others  sleep. 

TO  YOU. 

I. 

Forgetful  and  forgetting 

As  the  hearts  of  men  may  be, 
No  heart,  without  regretting, 

Could  forever  part  from  thee. 
Deem  not,  that,  in  redeeming 

A  promise  made  by  me, 
I  shine  of  my  own  beaming, 

For  the  light  is  caught  from  thee. 

II. 
The  hidden  art  of  hiding 

Within  the  glittering  glass 
Fair  tints,  that,  still  abiding, 

Detain  us  as  we  pass, 
Is  lost ;  but  ah  !  the  losing 

Is  of  little  loss  to  you,  — • 
Each  mirror  of  your  choosing 

Reflects  a  warmer  hue. 
11* 


126  A    ROMANCE    OF 

III. 

Reflected  and  reflective, 
Through  life  in  beauty  go, 

And  may  each  gay  perspective 
Some  more  brilliant  vista  show. 

Next  morning,  at  the  break  of  day, 

The  signal-gun  was  duly  fired, 
And  every  yacht  got  under  way. 

The  wind  blew  fresh, and  all  desired 
To  be  at  Gloucester  by  noon, — 

And  so  they  were.     Just  off  the  port, 
And  with  their  glasses,  very  soon, 

They  saw  the  windmill,  and  the  fort, 
Here,  as  the  breeze  more  gently  blew, 
At  Hunt's  command,  some  yachts  laid  to, 
While  some  stood  off  and  on,  to  see 
And  hunt  his  Snakeship's  Majesty. 
At  Gloucester  the  sons  of  Mars 

.  Received  that  day  a  Boston  phalanx  ; 
They  much  admired  the  hardy  tars, 

And  much  of  time  was  lost  in  gay  pranks 


THE    FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  127 

The  morning  had  been  passed  in  shooting 

At  targets  on  the  ocean  floating, 
And  o'er  their  chowder  were 'disputing 

These  gallant  soldiers,  whether  boating, 
Sailing,  gunning,  walking,  riding, 

Or  what,  that   gives  brave  young  men 

pleasure, 
Had  best  be  done  ;   and  each,  deciding 

As  suited  best  his  time  and  leisure, 
Had  settled  what  he  'd  like  to  do, 
And  each  resolved  to  "  put  it  through." 
Their  camp  was  just  upon  the  cliff 

That  rises  just  beyond  the  beach  ; 
And  if  you  have  not  been  there,  —  if 

You  wish  to  go,  —  you  soon  can  reach 
It  by  walking  or  by  driving  ;  — 
The  breeze  you  have  there  is  reviving. 
There  tent,  and  flag,  and  glittering  gun, 

And  well-stacked  muskets  standing  nigh, 
Proclaim  their  martial  duties  done,  — 

Save  where  the  sentries  silently 


128  A    ROMANCE    OF 

Pace  with  firm  step  their  weary  round, 
To  guard  this  jolly  camping-ground. 

IV. 

Meanwhile  the  yachts  were  standing  on 

"When,  bearing  down   from  Ten-Pound 

Island, 
They  saw  (the  breeze  was  nearly  gone) 

A  sight  that  made  some  sigh  for  dry  land. 
It  was  the  serpent,  fiercely  raging. 

On  he  came,  with  mighty  strength  ; 
You  'd  hardly  call  his  air  engaging, 

If  you  should  see  him  at  full  length. 
On  he  came  ;  —  Hunt's  orders  ran 

Swift   through   the   fleet   and  o'er   the 

waters, — 
"  The  world  expects  no  valiant  man 

Will  ever  give  that  monster  quarters." 
Each  yacht  for  action  clears  her  deck  ; 

Hunt  gets  his  best  bow-chasers  ready ; 
He  thinks  a  little  grape  might  check 

His  Snakeship,  if  both  true  and  steady. 


THE    FASHIONABLE    WORLD.  129 

Like  Bragg,  the  iron  shower  they  pour, 
And  give  him  still  "a  little  more." 

See,  from  the  Hope  a  smoky  wreath 
Is  curling  round  her  arrowy  prow, 

And  gleams  the  flashing  fire  beneath  ; 
The  ball  is  fairly  opened  now  ! 

Just    o'er    his    head    those    grape-shot 

swept, 
And  one  just  grazed  him  near  his  mane  ; 

At  this  in  terror  up  he  leaped, 
Some  sixty  feet ;   with  calm  disdain 

He  gazed  on  this  array  of  yachts  ; 
But,  while  he  stood  there  still  and  shining, 

There  came  at  least  some  fifteen  shots, 
That  taught  him  there  was  more  design  in 

Man  than  he  had  lately  thought  of, 

Nor  was  he  yet  to  be  made  naught  of. 
Round  and  through  him  shot  and  ball 

Hissed,  and  he  hissed  back,  then,  growl 
ing, 
Plunged  into  the  sea,  while  all 

The  ocean  trembled  with  his  howling. 


130  A    ROMANCE    OF 

Then,  0,  then,  you  should  have  seen, 

How,  thronging  round  him  from  below, 
His  courtiers  came,  while  some  fifteen 

Thousand  serpents  made  a  show 
Of  grinning  heads,  and  flashing  tails, 

Wild,  tossing  manes,  and  hideous  eyes  ! 
The  sight  o'er  every  doubt  prevails, 

And  fills  Hunt's  party  with  surprise. 
However,  nobly  they  stand  to  their  guns, 

And  blaze  away  hotly  left  and  right ; 
For  they  know  full  well  that  he  who  runs 

Will  never  hear  the  last  of  the  fight. 
Bloody  then  grew  the  water  there  ; 

Many  a  serpent  bites  the  ocean  ; 
While  one  old  tar  was  heard  to  swear, 

That  he  before  had  "  had  no  notion, 
That  there  were  half  so  many  snakes 

At  sea,"  —  then,  hitching  up  his  trou 
sers, 
Trie  very  best  of  aim  he  takes, 

And  nearly  kills  two  jolly  rousers. 
Where  all  fought  well  't  is  hard  to  say 


THE   FASHIONABLE    WORLD.  131 

Who  fought  the  best ;   but  no  one  knew 
Who  aimed  the  shot,  so  fierce  the  fray, 

That  cut  one  serpent  right  in  two. 
One  yacht  was  very  hard  beset 

By  forty  serpents  all  together  ; 
And  ere  two  salts  had  time  to  bet 

Or    guess    how   she    the    storm   would 

weather, 

The  yacht  was  over  in  the  water, 
While    blushed   the    waves   with    mutual 

slaughter. 

Hunt,   Forbes,   and  Prince  were   fighting 
hard, 

When  they  observed  this  new  disaster. 
Hunt  saw  for  guns  they  'd  no  regard, 

And  so  he  thought  he'd  try  if  castor 
Would  drive  them  to  their  depths  below, 

And  therefore  ordered  all  on  board 
To  leave  their  guns,  and  quickly  throw 

This   drug,    which    he   with    care   had 

stored, 
Into  the  waves.     His  men  obey, 


132  A    ROMANCE    OF 

And,  swifter  than  the  god  of  day, 
The  serpents  stream  like  light  away. 

v. 

The  soldiers  still  were  at  their  chowder 
And  with  them  were   their  wives   and 
mothers  ; 

They  heard  the  guns  and  smelt  the  powder  ; 
But  thinking  that  their  Gloucester  broth 
ers 

A  grand  salute  for  them  were  firing, 

They  sat  and  ate  with  zeal  untiring. 

It  chanced  now  that  our  wounded  snake, 
Hit  by  a  spent  ball  on  the  head, 

That,  for  the  moment  seemed  to  make 

g 

Him  careless  how  or  where  he  fled, 
Came  like  an  arrow  to  the  spot, 

Uncalled,  as  comes  the  bride  in  Zampa, 
And,  rushing  right  among  the  lot, 

Produced  a  most  prodigious  scamper. 
With  head  high  raised,  and  bristling  mane, 

And  open  jaws  that  spouted  foam. 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  133 

And  angry  eyes  that  gleamed  with  pain. 

And  tail  that  lashed  his  ocean  home, 
With  rushing  bound  he  left  the  sea, 
And  plunged  among  the  company  ! 
Children,  soldiers,  maids,  and  men, 

Mothers,  sweethearts,  all,  pell-mell, 
Run  as  they  ne'er  ran  till  then  ; 

Some,  stumbling  in  their  hurry,  fell ; 
While  some,  transfixed  with  silent  terror, 

Sat  still,  —  nor  were  they  much  in  error, 
Because  his  Snakeship,  passing  these, 

Pushed  madly  after  those  that  ran  ; 
The  sentinels  the  moment  seize, 

And  taking  aim  as  Yankees  can, 
They  fire,  and  hit  him  near  the  eye, 

And  blind  him  so  he  cannot  see  ; 
Now  't  is  the  serpent's  turn  to  fly 

From  soldiers  who  no  longer  flee. 
He  turns  to  fly,  but,  eyesight  gone, 

And  smarting  still  with  many  a  wound, 
Cut  up  with  shot,  on  land  forlorn, 

He  writhed  with  rage  along  the  ground. 
12 


134  A    ROMANCE    OP 

Meanwhile,  the  soldiers  bravely  form 

Between  him  and  the  rocky  shore, 
And  from  their  blazing  ranks  a  storm 

Of  well-aimed  bullets  swiftly  pour. 
From  the  camp,  their  cannon  blazing, 

Eain  upon  him  shot  and  ball  ; 
Oft  they  hit  him  ;   his  amazing 

Strength  seems  conqueror  over  all. 
Onward  to  the  sea  he  charges, 

Borne  by  instinct  or  by  chance  ; 
Every  heart  with  fear  enlarges, 

Lest  they  lose  him.     They  advance, 
And    boldly    with    their     swords     attack 

him, 
And  stab,  and  pierce,  and  hew,  and  hack 

him  ! 
Onward  to  the  cliff  he  drags  his 

Body  ;   weaker  seems  he  now  ; 
Steepest  there  of  all  the  crags  'tis ; 

He  is  just  upon  its  brow. 
Down  he  plunges  towards  the  main, 
Where  he  ne'er  shall  swim  again  ; 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  135 

For  half  on  sea  and  half  on  land, 
He  dies  upon  that  rocky  strand. 

VI. 

"Victory !  "  the  soldiers  scream,  — 

Loud  their  shout  is  echoed  back 
From  where  Hunt's  pennons  gayly  stream ; 

For  he  has  watched  their  fierce  attack. 
Then  all  the  fleet  sent  men  to  see 
And  measure  their  late  enemy. 
They  found  that  he  was  near  six  hundred 

Feet  in  length,  and  quite  as  large  round 
As  any  hogshead  ;   much  they  wondered  ; 

But  here  they  heard  an  angry  sound 
Of  many  men  disputing  loudly  ; 

For  all  who  have  been  in  the  fight 
Claim,  and  assert  their  claim  right  proudly, 

That  all  shall  have  an  equal  right 
To  share  the  proceeds  of  the  capture  ; 

And  blows    occurred.       But  Hunt  pro 
poses 


136  A   ROMANCE    OF 

A  plan  which  all  receive  with  rapture  ; 

It  is,  that  they  should  just  count  noses, 
And  choose  at  once  a  smart  committee, 

And  they  would  settle  it  of  course  ;  — 
(They  settle  all  things  now)  —  't  is  fit  three 

Heads  should  rule,  instead  of  force. 
'T  is  done  ;   the  chairman  makes  report, 

To  end  dispute  and  further  clamor,  — 
"  It 's  been  decided  by  the  court 

To  bring  his  Snakeship  to  the  hammer, 
And  sell  him  to  the  highest  bidder, 

And  share  the  proceeds  here  directly." 
Now  this  seemed  fair,  and  all  consider 

About  his  worth  most  circumspectly. 
Prince  bid  him  off  for  a  cool  thousand  ; 

Had   him   stuffed  ('twas  the   first  one 

done) , 
Shipped  him,  he  arrived  at  Cowes,  and 

Had  him  sent  for  show  to  London. 


I 

THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  137 

vn. 

"When  they  heard  the  news  in  Boston, 

They  rang  the  bells  a  week  ; 
And  the  people  were  so  jolly  there 

That  they  could  hardly  speak 
Of  aught  beside  the  fact  that  he, 

The  serpent,  had  been  caught, 
And  wondered  who  that  Prince  might  be, 

Who  had  the  monster  bought ; 
Because,  you  know,  the  Boston  folks  — 

As  well  as  all  the  nation,  — 
Mark,  learn,  read,  well  digest  the  man 

Who  makes  a  "  speculation  !  " 

But  hold  !  we  gallop  on  too  fast. 

This  was  done,  —  but  at  Nahant 
The  yachts  next  day  their  anchors  cast, 

Returned  in  triumph  from  their  jaunt. 
With  booming  gun  and  martial  strain, 
They  wake  the  echoes  there  again, 
12* 


138  A    ROMANCE    OF 

While  all  crowd  round  to  hail  and  see 

The  gainers  of  this  victory, 

One  yacht  was  gone,  alas  !  and  they 

Who  manned  her  in  that  desperate  fight, 
The  young,  the  true,  the  brave,  the  gay, 

Were  not  forgotten  there  that  night ; 
They  "cry,  remembrance   saddening  o'er 
each  brow, 

How  had   the   brave  who  fell   exulted 
now !" 

\ 

That  evening,  it  was  marked  by  all, 

Sue  Forbes  was  gayer  than  before, 
For  Prince  was  there  to  grace  the  ball ; 

But  ere  that  brilliant  ball  was  o'er, 
They  wandered  to  a  balcony 
That  overhung  the  moon-lit  sea. 
Albert  Prince  in  truth  was  sad, 

But  still   "  not  without  hope   his  sor 
row;  " 
For  Sue  Forbes'  smile  was  ever  glad, 

And  sober  -men  full  often  borrow 


THE   FASHIONABLE   WORLD.  139 

Love  from  girls  with  auburn  tresses, 
And  pay  them  —  after  —  their  addresses. 

Dick  Forbes  observed  the  fair  Miss  Bell 
Eeceived  him  with  some  slight  confu 
sion. 

Ah,  Love,  thy  deeds  't  were  vain  to  tell !  — 
But  I  have  come  to  this  conclusion  : 

The  saddest  hearts  within  thy  snares 

Are  often  taken  unawares. 

VIII. 

Next  morning  Hunt  went  up  to  town, 

And  with  him  went  a  jovial  party  ; 
He  only  followed  his  renown, — 

His  friends  there  gave  a  welcome  hearty. 
And,  I  am  told,  some  six  months  later, 

Say  about  Christmas  or  New  Year, 
An  artiste  who  knows  how  to  cater 

For  all  our  brilliant  soirees  here, 
Was  seen,  one  morn,  on  "Beacon-street, 

To  enter  at  a  mansion  splendid, 


140  A    ROMANCE. 

Where  all  the  world,  that  eve,  would  greet 

Three  brides,  which  twice  three  hundred 

men  did. 
"  And  all  went  merry  as  a  marriage  bell ;  " 

But  who  they  were  't  is  yours  to  guess, 
For  I  must  bid  these  rhymes  farewell. 

Yet  may  I  venture  to  transgress 
On  patience  long  since  gone,  to  say, 

That  when  the  dark  and  gloomy  night 
Has  ushered  in  your  wedding-day, 

0,  may  it  be  calm,  clear,  and  bright, 
With  no  Sea-Serpent  to  invade 

And  bear  away  the  heart's  best  treasure  ! 
In  sea-side  cot  or  rural  glade 

0,  may  you  live  a  life  of  pleasure, 
As  truly  as  our  heroes  three 
Lived  with  their  brides  in  harmony  ! 


NOTES. 


NOTE  1.     (PAGE  8.) 

PONTOPPIDAN,  a  bishop  of  Bergen,  in  Norway, 
who  wrote  in  the  year  1*751,  says,  page  195,  sec. 
4  :  —  "  The  Soe-Ormen,  the  sea-snake,  serpens 
marinus  magnus,  called  by  some  in  this  country 
the  Aaale-Tuft,  is  a  wonderful  and  terrible  sea- 
monster,  which  extremely  deserves  to  be  taken 
notice  of  by  those  who  are  curious  to  look  into 
the  works  of  the  Creator." 


NOTE  2.     (PACK  11.) 

"  In  Tlllands  parish  there  is  a  lake,  of  a  mid' 
dling  size,  which  is  said  to  have  in  it  these 
snakes  ;  and  the  lake  Store  Mios,  in  Ilede- 
marken,  is  long  and  deep  enough  for  the  largest 
ships. 

"  01.  Magnus,  Lib.  XXI.  Cap.  xvii.,  Petr. 
Undalinus,  in  his  description  of  Norway,  Cap. 
vii.  p.  36,  and  John  Ramus,  P.  III.  p.  82,  affirm, 
that  there  are  quantities  of  large  snakes  in  these 
waters,  one  of  which  was  seen  to  reach  from 


142  NOTES. 

Oens  Land  to  Kongs  Landct ;  this  I  '11  leave  on 
their  authority,  and  only  observe  that,  if  it  is 
true,  the  relation  is  mixed  with  fables,  witchcraft, 
and  omens,  which  should  be  exploded."  —  Pox- 
TOPPIDAN,  Natural  History  of  Norway,  sec.  3,  p.  39. 


NOTE  3.     (PAGE  13.) 

The  first  verse,  being  translated  literally,  runs 
thus  : 

"  The  great  sea-snake 's  the  subject  of  my  verse ; 
For,  though  my  eyes  have  never  yet  beheld  him, 
Nor  ever  shall  desire  the  hideous  sight, 
Yet  many  accounts  of  men  of  truth  unstained, 
Whose  every  word  I  firmly  do  believe, 
Show  it  to  be  a  very  frightful  monster." 


NOTE  4.     (PAGE  39.) 

The  best  account  we  have  of  the  great  serpent 
of  Midgard,  is  in  the  work  entitled  "The  Edda, 
or  Ancient  Icelandic  (or  Runic)  Mythology." 
This  book  is,  perhaps,  as  old  as  the  Book  of  Job, 
or  the  writings  of  the  Prophet  Isaiah. 

"THE  EDDA,  XXVII.     FABLE. 

"  Of  the  Journey  undertaken  by  the  God  Thor,  the  Hercules 
of  the  Danish,  Gods,  to  goto  fish  for  the  Great  Serpent. 

"  It  is  impossible  to  express  the  dreadful  looks 
that  the  god  darted  at  the  Serpent,  whilst  the 


NOTES.  143 

monster,  raising  bis  .  head,  spouted  out  venom 
upon  him.  In  the  mean  time,  the  Giant  Eymer, 
seeing,  with  affright,  the  water  enter  his  bark  on 
all  sides,  cut,  with  his  knife,  the  string  of  his 
fishing-line,  just  as  Thor  was  going  to  strike  the 
Serpent  with  his  mace.  Upon  this,  the  monster 
fell  down  again  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea." 


NOTE  5.    (PAGE  42.) 

There  is  a  farmer  in  Damariscotta,  Maine,  who 
really  thinks  that  the  Sea-Serpent  knocks  down 
his  walls,  and  rolls  in  his  grain  ! 


NOTE  6.     (PAGE  63.) 

Captain  Sturgis,  of  the  Cutter  Hamilton,  in 
forms  rne,  that,  while  the  cutter  was  off  Boston 
Light  a  few  years  since,  on  a  calm  day  in  mid 
summer,  he  was  suddenly  startled,  while  sitting 
in  his  cabin,  by  hearing  a  great  noise  on  deck  ; 
he  ran  up,  and  found  the  men  on  the  quarter 
deck,  all  of  them  looking  extremely  frightened. 
He  at  once  demanded  the  cause  of  the  disturb 
ance.  Some  exclaimed,  "The  cutter  is  going 
ashore,  sir  1  "  Others  said,  "  There  is  a  strange 
monster  close  aboard  of  us  forward  ;  —  a  serpent, 
or  something  else."  The  gallant  captain  saw 
that  his  men  were  unusually  alarmed,  and  there 
fore  ran  forward  directly  ;  be  there  saw  something 


144  NOTES. 

like  a  great  snake,  but  only  for  an  instant,  for  he 
dived  down  just  as  the  captain  reached  the  bow. 
On  page  42,  the  lieutenant,  talking  of  ice 
islands,  says,  "  Where  devils  and  foxes  howled 
and  chattered."  I  find,  in  "An  Account  of  Two 
Voyages  to  New  England,  Anno.  Dom.  1638,  by 
John  Joselyn,  Gent.,"  that  he  mentions  seeing 
icebergs  on  the  sea,  with  foxes  and  devils  on 
them.  Rather  a  cold  place  for  devils  ;  but  per 
haps  they  were  of  the  Scandinavian  breed.  He 
might  have  seen  seals,  and  taken  them  for  some 
thing  else.  Such  a  story  is  mere  nonsense,  —  a 
traveller's  tale,  fit  only  for  romances. 


NOTE  7.     (PAGE  69.) 

Job  xli.  9,  10  :  —  "  Behold,  the  hope  of  him  is 
in  vain  :  shall  not  one  be  cast  down  even  at  the 
eight  of  him  ?  None  is  so  fierce  that  dare  stir 
him  up  :  who,  then,  is  able  to  stand  before  me  ?  " 


NOTE  8.     (PAGE  69.) 

"  These  Ormens  of  the  Soe."  Or,  "  these  snakes 
of  the  sea";  "the  Soe  Ormen"  ;  "the  Sea- 
Snake." 

The  Linnsean  Society  of  New  England  received 
the  following  testimony,  in  the  year  1817,  with 
regard  to  these  serpents  leaping  into  vessels, 
from  a  resident  of  one  of  the  islands  in  the  Bay 


NOTES.  145 

of  Penobscot,  Maine,  who  declared  that  he  had 
often  seen  a  marine  monster  of  this  description, 
which  was  as  large  as  a  sloop's  boom,  and  about 
sixty  or  seventy  feet  long.  He  asserted  that, 
about  the  year  1780,  as  a  schooner  was  lying  at 
the  mouth  of  the  river,  or  in  the  bay,  one  of  these 
enormous  creatures  leaped  over  it  between  the 
masts  ;  the  men  ran  into  the  hold  for  fright,  and 
the  weight  of  the  serpent  sunk  the  vessel,  which 
was  of  eighteen  tons  burthen,  "one  streak,"  or 
plank. 

I  give  next  the  statement  of  Pontoppidan  on 
this  subject : 

"  The  next  question,"  says  he,  in  sec.  8,  page 
202,  of  his  valuable  work,  "  is,  whether  they  do 
mankind  any  injury,  and  in  what  manner  they 
hurt  the  human  species.  Arndt  Bernsen,  in  his 
account  of  the  fertility  of  Denmark  and  Norway, 
page  308,  affirms  that  they  do  ;  and  says,  that 
the  sea-snake  often  sinks  both  men  and  boats. 
The  North-traders  inform  me  of  what  has  fre 
quently  happened  with  them,  namely,  that  the 
sea-snake  has  raised  itself  up,  and  thrown  itself 
suddenly  across  a  boat,  and  sometimes  even 
across  a  vessel  of  some  hundred  tons  burthen,  and 
by  its  weight  lias  sunk  it  down  to  the  bottom." 


NOTE  9.    (PAGE  TO.) 

"  Of  late,  our  fishermen  have  found  the  way,  in 
the  warm   summer  months,  of  providing  them- 


146  NOTES. 

selves  with  castor,  which  they  always  carry  with 
them  when  they  go  far  out  to  sea  ;  they  shut  it 
up  in  a  hole  in  the  stern,  and,  if  at  any  time  they 
are  particularly  apprehensive  of  meeting  with  a 
sea-snake,  they  throw  a  little  of  it  overboard  ; 
for  by  frequent  experience  they  know  of  a  cer 
tainty  that  it  always  avoids  this  drug."  •  — PONTOP- 
PIDAN,  Natural  History  of  Norway,  sec.  8,  p.  203. 
On  page  50,  I  say,  "Aqua  vitce  and  castor  they 
threw  in  the  wave."  Aqua  vitas  may  do,  but  I 
should  have  said  assafoetida  ;  for,  Pontoppidan 
says,  sec.  8,  page  204,  —  "An  eminent  apothe 
cary  here  has  informed  me,  that,  instead  of  cas 
tor,  o,ur  fishermen  provide  themselves  with  noth 
ing  but  assafoetida  ;  for,  if  what  they  carry  have 
but  a  strong  smell,  it  has  the  same  effect  upon 
those  sea-snakes  ;  besides,  assafoetida  comes  at  a 
lower  price  than  castor." 


NOTE  10.     (PAGE  79.) 

The  Devil-Fish  is  one  of  the  ugliest  fishes  in 
the  sea.  At  this  dinner-party  given  by  the  Ser 
pent,  I  have  endeavored  to  introduce  only  such 
fish  as  are  the  most  hostile  to  each  other.  We 
sometimes  see  queerly-assorted  dinner-parties  on 
land  ;  those,  however,  are  not  usually  intentional. 
The  sharks,  not  belonging  to  the  aristocratic  cir 
cle  in  which  the  Serpent  circulates,  were  not 
invited.  The  Wolf-Fish,  as  its  name  implies,  eats 


NOTES.  147 

everything  it  can  get.  And,  in  Storer's  Report 
of  the  Fishes  of  Massachusetts,  page  69,  I  find 
that  "this  ferocious  species  is  captured  about 
rocky  ledges  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,"  and  that 
"  its  hideous  appearance  renders  it  an  object  of 
disgust."  

NOTE  11.    (PAGE  86.) 

"My  squids  here  will  make  you  some  excellent 
sport."  The  Squid  (the  Indian  Remora,  or  Suck 
ing-Fish, )  is  found  in  Boston  Bay.  (See  "  Storer's 
Fishes  of  Massachusetts,"  page  153.) 

In  a  book  on  fishes,  printed  in  Dublin,  Ireland, 
in  1820,  I  find  the  following  account :  "  The 
Indians  of  Jamaica  and  Cuba  formerly  used  the 
Sucking-Fish  in  the  catching  of  other  fishes, 
somewhat  in  the  same  manner  as  hawks  are 
employed  by  a  falconer  in  seizing  birds." 


NOTE  12.    (PAGE  87.) 

"Gape  May  and  the  Pool,"  &c.  —  The  Pool 
(better  known,  perhaps,  as  Winter  Harbor)  is  a 
deep  and  safe  harbor,  near  the  mouth  of  Saco 
River,  and  about  nine  miles  from  the  two  flourish 
ing  towns  of  Saco  and  Biddeford,  Maine. 


SOME    REMARKS 
BY    THE    AUTHOR 


I  SHALL  endeavor,  in  this  division  of  my 
subject,  to  give  only  the  best  authenticated 
facts  with  regard  to  this  monster,  and  only 
those  letters  that  are  entirely  worthy  of 
respect  and  confidence,  both  from  the  high 
reputation  that  their  authors  enjoy,  and 
also  from  the  fact,  that  these  men,  who 
appear  to  testify,  are  the  very  men  who, 
in  our  courts,  would  command,  from  their 
position  and  their  practical  knowledge,  the 
greatest  attention. 

The  writer  of  an  article  in  the  Westmin 
ster  Review,  who  seems  to  have  no  doubt 
in  his  own  mind  as  to  the  existence  of  this 
animal,  says  with  great  truth  :  — 

"  It  seems  to  us  that  the  witnesses  called 
on  behalf  of  the  Sea-Serpent,  afford  the 
very  best  evidence  that  could  be  wished. 
13* 


150  REMARKS. 

The  majority  of  our  professors  and  curators 
would  not  know  a  whale  from  a  porpoise, 
a  porpoise  from  a  shark,  a  shark  from  an 
ichthyosaurus,  if  they  beheld  these  creat 
ures  in  their  native  element ;  it  is  when 
beasts  are  stuffed  with  straw,  or  reduced 
to  skeletons,  or  when  fragments  of  their 
bones  are  placed  under  the  compound  mi 
croscope,  that  the  knowledge  of  them 
among  these  savans  begins  and  ends  ;  but 
the  mariner,  the  whaler,  the  harpooner, 
the  porpoise-shooter,  the  practical  fisher 
man,  —  these  know  the  creatures  of  the 
deep  from  each  other,  and  can  pronounce 
with  wonderful  exactitude  if  they  see  but 
the  smallest  portion  above  the  water  ;  they 
are  the  men  whose  sight  is  sharpened  by 
use,  whose  book  is  nature,  whose  knowl 
edge  is  practical,  and  whose  evidence  on 
such  a  subject  is  far'better  than  any  other. 
The  men  '  who  go  down  to  the  sea  in  ships  ' 
are  they  of  whom  we  must  inquire  its 
wonders.  They,  indeed,  may  see  a  school 
of  porpoises  following  each  other,  head  to 
tail ;  they  may  watch  their  gambols,  and 


REMARKS.  151 

haply  single  out  a  big  one  for  a  trial  of  the 
harpoon  or  the  rifle  ;  but  no  seaman  would 
mistake  them  for  anything  else. 

"  In  all  our  inquiries,  we  must  have  re 
gard  to  the  capacity  of  a  witness  for  giving 
information.  Even  the  microscope,  the 
secret-revealing  implement  of  the  learned, 
requires  a  kind  of  education  on  the  part  of 
the  beholder.  Doubtless  the  mariner,  who 
first  peeped  through  the  wonder-working 
tube,  would  arrive  at  conclusions  as  erro 
neous  as  the  learned  fool  who  comments  on 
the  creatures  of  the  deep  ;  but  he  surely 
would  not  venture  to  print  his  blunders,  or 
pass  off  his  crude  observations  as  worthy 
the  attention  of  the  world.  And  yet  our 
savans  are  forever  doing  this,  and  forever 
giving  opinions  on  subjects  which  they 
cannot  understand  ;  promulgating  hypoth 
eses  founded  on  imagined  facts ;  drawing 
ideal  pictures  of  nature,  and  reasoning  on 
them  as  truths  ;  throwing  aside  realities 
for  fictions  ;  and  hermetically  sealing  their 
eyes,  and  closing  their  ears,  against  the 
entrance  of  information,  because  informa- 


152  REMARKS. 

tion  itself  is  supposed  to  clash  with  pre 
conceived  opinions,  to  interfere  with  hy 
potheses  to  which  they  are  pledged,  and, 
in  fine,  to  damage  their  claim  to  the  exclu 
sive  disposal  of  scientific  knowledge.  Their 
object  is  to  represent  all  matters  as  they 
would  have  them,  without  any  reference  to 
what  they  are." 

The  following  letter  of  Louis  Agassiz, 
LL.  D.,  Professor  of  Zoology  and  Geology 
in  the  Lawrence  Scientific  School  of  the 
University  at  Cambridge,  together  with 
part  of  a  lecture  delivered  in  Philadelphia 
during  the  last  winter,  is  at  least  evidence 
that  this  distinguished  savan  does  not  keep 
his  eyes  "  hermetically  sealed,"  or  his  ears 
closed  ' '  against  the  entrance  of  informa 
tion." 

"  EUGENE  BATCHELDER,  ESQ. — 

"DEAR  SIR:  I  return  my  thanks  for 
the  papers  communicated  about  the  exist 
ence  of  the  so-called  Sea-Serpent.  Though 
I  am  not  at  all  disposed  to  endorse  all  the 
reports  current  upon  this  animal,  from  the 


REMARKS.  153 

evidence  I  have  received  I  can  no  longer 
doubt  the  existence  of  some  large  marine 
reptile,  allied  to  Ichthyosaurus  and  Plesio- 
saurus,  yet  unknown  to  naturalists.  The 
facts  mentioned  to  me  by  eye-witnesses 
have  led  me  into  an  investigation  of  the 
probable  relations  of  the  great  Sea-Monster, 
'and  I  have  recently  expressed  my  opinion 
upon  this  subject,  in  connection  with  other 
matters,  in  a  lecture  delivered  in  Philadel 
phia  last  winter,  of  which  I  inclose  a  re 
port,  of  which  you  may  make  any  use  you 
please.  The  general  character  of  this  con 
tinent,  with  its  paleozoic  types  still  alive, 
renders  this  supposition  very  probable. 
"  With  high  regard, 

"  Respectfully  yours, 

"  L.  AGASSIZ. 
"  CAMBRIDGE,  15  June,  1849." 

EXTRACT   FROM  THE   THIRTEENTH   LECTURE   OF 
PROFESSOR  AGASSIZ, 

DELIVERED   IN    PHILADELPHIA,  TUESDAY   EVENING,   MARCH 

20TII,   1849. 

"  There   is   satisfactory   evidence    that, 
during  the  deposition  of  the  lowest  strata, 


154  REMARKS. 

there  were  no  extensive  continents.  In 
deed,  there  are,  in  the  coal  strata  of  Great 
Britain,  France,  and  other  countries,  indica 
tions  of  there  having  been  groups  of  small 
islands,  gradually  increasing  by  successive 
deposits,  and  combining  to  form  continents. 
In  what  is  usually  called  the  Old  World 
there  are  no  indications  of  large  islands  in 
the  earliest  periods.  America,  so  far  from 
being  a  New  World,  is  the  oldest  continent. 
Even  before  the  deposition  of  the  coal, 
North  America  had  nearly  its  present  out 
line,  —  the  coal  basins  being  great  inland 

seas ;    while  it  is    probable   that,   at  this 

•s 

time,  the  whole  of  the  Old  World  was  only 
a  group  of  small  islands. 

' '  A  number  of  interesting  facts  have 
been  ascertained  in  regard  to  the  animals 
and  plants  which  exist  in  different  portions 
of  the  globe  ;  these  differing  considerably, 
according  to  their  latitude  and  longitude. 
In  the  arctic  regions  of  Asia,  Europe,  and 
America,  there  is  an  astonishing  uniformity 
in  the  plants  and  animals.  As  we  proceed 
toward  the  temperate  zone,  there  is  a 


REMARKS.  155 

greater  diversity.  In  the  tropics  we  find 
the  animals  and  plants  of  different  countries 
to  be  entirely  of  a  different  character  ;  and, 
as  we  proceed  towards  the  southern  pole, 
we  do  not  find  that  they  resume  their  uni 
formity.  We  find,  also,  various  countries 
characterized  by  peculiar  species  of  ani 
mals  as  well  as  plants  ;  a  very  remarkable 
peculiarity  in  this  distribution  is  the  fact 
that  both  the  animals  and  plants  now  found 
in  this  country  are  related  to  those  belong 
ing  to  earlier  geological  periods  of  Europe. 
The  walnut,  cypress,  and  other  trees  of 
this  country,  are  only  found  in  a  fossil 
state  in  Europe.  Among  animals,  also,  the 
snapping- turtle,  the  large  frogs  and  sala 
manders  of  this  country,  occur  only  as 
fossils  in  Europe.  Again,  the  genus  of 
fish  called  Lepidostas,  of  which  the  gar- 
pike  found  in  America  is  a  species,  does 
not  resemble  the  recent  European  fossils, 
but  those  c-f  the  old  Oolitic  period.  These 
facts  indicate  that  this  continent  has  not 
undergone  the  same  successive  changes  as 
the  Old  World.  There  the  changes  are 


156  REMARKS. 

comparatively  recent,  and  the  upheaving 
of  mountains  and  formation  of  valleys  have 
put  an  end  to  many  animals  of  which  we 
find  living  representatives  on  the  continent 
of  North  America. 

"Among  the  fossils  of  Europe  of  the 
period  during  which  the  gar-pike  existed 
there,  and  when  the  Ichthyosauri  and  Ple- 
siosauri  existed  also,  there  were  also  sharks 
with  flat  teeth,  such  as  are  found  now  on 
the  south-west  coast  of  New  Holland.  I 
have  asked  myself,  in  connection  with  this 
subject,  whether  there  is  not  such  an  ani 
mal  as  the  Sea-Serpent.  There  are  many 
who  will  doubt  the  existence  of  such  a 
creature  until  it  can  be  brought  under  the 
dissecting-knife  ;  but  it  has  been  seen  by 
so  many  on  whom  we  may  rely,  that  it  is 
wrong  to  doubt  any  longer.  The  truth  is, 
however,  that  if  a  naturalist  had  to  sketch 
the  outlines  of  an  Ichthyosaurus  or  Plesio- 
saurus  from  the  remains  we  have  of  them, 
he  would  make  a  drawing  very  similar  to 
the  Sea-Serpent  as  it  has  been  described. 
There  is  reason  to  think  that  the  parts  are 


REMARKS.  157 

soft  and  perishable,  but  I  still  consider  it 
probable  that  it  will  be  the  good  fortune  of 
some  person  on  the  coast  of  Norway  or 
North  America  to  find  a  living  representa 
tive  of  this  type  of  reptile,  which  is 
thought  to  have  died  out." 

The  following  extract  from  a  letter  from 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  merchants 
of  Boston  is  worthy  of  the  highest  consid 
eration  :  — 

"  EUGENE  BATCHELDER,  ESQ. — 

"BOSTON,  April  26,  1849. 
"DEAR  SIR:  I  have  never  had  any 
doubt  of  the  existence  of  the  Sea-Serpent 
since  the  morning  he  was  seen  off  Nahant 
by  old  Martial  Prince,  through  his  famous 
mast-head  spy-glass.  For,  within  the  next 
two  hours,  I  conversed  with  Mr.  Samuel 
Cabot,  and  Mr.  Daniel  P.  Parker,  I  think, 
and  one  or  more  persons  beside,  who  had 
spent  a  part  of  that  morning  in  witnessing 
its  movements.  In  addition,  Col.  Harris, 
the  commander  at  Fort  Independence,  told 
me  that  the  creature  had  been  seen  by  a 
14 


158  REMARKS. 

number  of  his  soldiers  while  standing  sen 
try  in  the  early  dawn,  some  time  before 
this  show  at  Nahant ;  and  Col.  Harris  be 
lieved  it  as  firmly  as  though  the  creature 
were  drawn  up  before  us  in  State-street, 
where  we  then  were. 

"  I  again  say,  I  have  never,  from  that 
day  to  this,  had  a  doubt  of  the  Sea-Ser 
pent's  existence.  The  revival  of  the  stories 
will  bring  out  many  facts,  that  will  place 
the  matter  before  our  people  in  such  a  light 
as  will  make  them  as  much  ashamed  to 
doubt,  as  they  formerly  were  to  believe  in 
its  existence. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"AMOS  LAWRENCE."* 

Before  giving  any  more  letters  or  facts 
on  this  subject,  I  wish  to  introduce  one  or 
two  passages  from  the  Bible,  where  the 
word  leviathan  occurs,  about  which  theolo 
gians  and  naturalists  have  had  so  many 
warm  discussions.  I  shall,  therefore,  begin 

*  This  letter  is  also  published  in  The  Life  of  Amos  Lawrence. 


REMARKS.  159 

with  the  Book  of  Job  ;  for,  says  Bishop 
Lowth,  "  That  the  Book  of  Job  is  the  most 
ancient  of  all  the  sacred  books  is,  I  think, 
manifest  by  the  subject,  the  language,  the 
general  character,  and  evert  from  the  ob 
scurity  of  the  work.  It  savors  altogether 
of  the  antique,  insomuch  that  whosoever 
would  suppose  it  written  after  the  Baby 
lonish  captivity,  would  fall  little  short  of 
the  error  of  Hardoiun,  who  ascribed  the 
golden  verses  of  Virgil  and  Horace  to  the 
iron  age  -of  monkish  pedantry  and  super 
stition."  Dr.  Hale  supposed  Job  to  have 
lived  about  the  year  2130  B.  C.  Job, 
therefore,  being  the  first  one  of  the  inspired 
writers  that  mentions  the  leviathan,  I  shall 
commence  with  him,  and  give  afterwards 
the  other  passages  where  the  leviathan  is 
noticed  in  the  Old  Testament. 

Job,  Chapter  xli.  1 :  "  Canst  thou 
draw  out  leviathan  with  a  hook?  or  his 
tongue  with  a  cord  which  thou  lettest 
down?" 

Now,  we  are  very  gravely  assured  by 
Townsend,  in  a  note  on  the  margin,  that 
"this  is  a  whale,  or  —  a  whirlpool*" 


160  REMARKS. 

What  man,  in  his  right  mind,  could  ever 
think  of  drawing  out  a  whirlpool  with  a 
cord?  Who  ever  heard  of  a  whirlpool 
with  a  tongue  ?  The  note  goes  on  to  say, 
• —  "The  leviathan  here  described  is,  in  the 
opinion  of  Bochart,  the  crocodile."  Who 
ever  heard  of  a,  crocodile  living  in  the  ocean/' 
But  the  note  declares,  finally, —  "The 
description  suits  no  other  amphibious  ani 
mal  at  present  known."  Now,  as  I  intend 
to  make  a  few  comments  on  this  note,  and 
also  on  this  forty-first  chapter  of  Job,  I  in 
troduce  it  here,  that  all  may,  if  they  will, 
be  convinced  that  a  leviathan  is  not,  at 
least,  a  whirlpool. 

CHAPTER  XLI. 

!.•  Canst  thou  draw  out  leviathan  with  a  hook?  or 
his  tongue  with  a  cord  which  thou  lettest  down  ? 

2.  Canst  thou  put  a  hook  into  his  nose  ?   or 
bore  his  jaw  through  with  a  thorn  ? 

3.  Will  he  make  many  supplications  unto  thee  ? 
will  he  speak  soft  words  unto  thee  ? 

4.  Will  he  make  a  covenant  with  thee  ?  wilt 
thou  take  him  for  a  servant  forever  ? 

5.  Wilt  thou  play  with  him  as  with  a  bird  ?  or 
wilt  thou  bind  him  for  thy  maidens? 

6.  Shall  thy  companions  make  a   banquet  of 
him  ?  shall  they  part  him  among  the  merchants  ? 


REMARKS.  161 

7.  Canst  thou  fill  his  skin  with  barbed  irons  ? 
or  his  head  with  fish-spears  ? 

8.  Lay  thine    hand  upon  him,  remember  the 
battle,  do  no  more. 

9.  Behold,  the  hope  of  him  is  in  vain  ;  shall  not 
one  be  cast  down  even  at  the  sight  of  him  '( 

10.  None  is  so  fierce  that  dare  stir  him  up  : 
who  then  is  able  to  stand  before  me? 

11.  Who  hath  prevented  me  that  1  should  repay 
him?    whatsoever  is  under  the  whole  heaven  is 
mine. 

12.  I  will  not  conceal  his  parts,  nor  his  power, 
nor  his  comely  proportion. 

13.  Who  can  discover  the  face  of  his  garment  ? 
or  who  can  come  to  him  with  his  double  bridle  ? 

14.  Who  can  open  the  doors  of  his  face  ?  his 
teeth  are  terrible  round  about. 

15.  His  scales  are  his  pride,  shut  up  together 
as  with  a  close  seal. 

16.  One  js  so  near  to  another,  that  no  air  can 
come  between  them. 

17.  They  are  joined  one  to  another,  they  stick 
together,  that  they  cannot  be  sundered. 

18.  By  his  neesings  a  light  doth  shine,  and  his 
eyes  are  like  the  eyelids  of  the  morning. 

19.  Out  of  his  mouth  go  burning  lamps,   and 
sparks  of  fire  leap  out. 

20.  Out  of  his  nostrils  goeth  smoke,  as  out  of 
a  seething-pot  or  caldron. 

21.  His  breath  kindleth  coals,  and  a  flame  goeth 
out  of  his  mouth. 

22.  In  his  neck  remaineth  strength,  and  sorrow 
is  turned  into  joy  before  him. 

23.  The  flakes  of  his  flesh  are  joined  together  : 
they  are  firm   in  themselves  :    they   cannot   be 
moved. 

14* 


162  REMARKS. 

24.  His  heart  is  as  firm  as  a  stone,  yea,  as  hard 
as  a  piece  of  the  nether  millstone. 

25.  When  he  raiseth  up  himself,   the  mighty 
are  afraid  :    by  reason  of  breaking   they  purify 
themselves. 

26.  The  sword  of  him  that  layeth  at  him  can 
not  hold  ;  the  spear,  the  dart,  nor  the  habergeon. 

27.  He  esteeineth  iron  as  straw,  and  brass  as 
rotten  wood. 

28.  The  arrow  cannot  make  him  flee  ;   sling- 
stones  are  turned  with  him  into  stubble. 

29.  Darts  are  counted  as  stubble  ;  he  laugheth 
at  the  shaking  of  a  spear. 

30.  Sharp  stones  are  under  him  ;  he  spreadeth 
sharp-pointed  things  upon  the  mire. 

31.  He  maketh  the  deep  to  boil  like  a  pot ;   he 
maketh  the  sea  like  a  pot  of  ointment. 

32.  He  maketh  a  path  to  shine  after  him  ;    one 
would  think  the  deep  to  be  hoary. 

33.  Upon  earth  there  is  not  his  like,  who  is 
made  without  fear. 

34.  He  beholdeth  all  high  things ;  he  is  a  king 
over  all  the  children  of  pride. 

And,  in  the  first  place,  what  is  the  defi 
nition  of  the  Hebrew  word  leviathan  ?  If 
you  look  in  Gesenius's  Hebrew  and  Eng 
lish  Lexicon,  you  will  find  it  to  be  as  fol 
lows  :  "  LEVIATHAN.  An  animal  wreathed, 
gathering  itself  in  folds."  Here,  I  presume, 
the  commentators  will  say,  with  their  usual 
ingenuity  in  such  cases,  that  perhaps  this 
animal  is  of  the  sheep  kind,  and  must 


REMARKS.  163 

therefore  be  gathered  in  folds.  But,  alas 
for  such  sheepish  commentators  !  the  next 
definition  would  destroy  their  theory  at 
once:  —  "LEVIATHAN.  A  Serpent,  espe 
cially  a  large  one."  So  Isaiah  xxvii.  1  : 
"In  that  day  the  Lord,  with  his  sore,  and 
great,  and  strong  sword,  shall  punish  levi 
athan  the  piercing  serpent,  even  leviathan 
that  crooked  serpent  ;  and  he  shall  slay 
the  dragon  that  is  in  the  sea." 

It  may  be  said  that  this  verse  refers  to 
the  20th  chapter,  1st  verse  (which  see). 
If  so,  then  this  serpent  of  the  sea  is  indeed 
(what  I  have  long  suspected  might  be  the 
fact)  the  devil.  But  let  us  go  on  with  our 
definition. 

"  2.  Spec.  The  crocodile,  Job  xli.  25, 
etc.  3.  A  sea-monster,  Ps.  civ.  26."  I 
insert  this  passage,  also  : 

23.  Man  goeth  forth  unto  his  work,  and  to  his 
labor  until  the  evening. 

24.  0  LORD,  how  manifold  are  thy  works  !    in 
wisdom   hast  thou  made  them  all  ;  the  earth  is 
full  of  thy- riches  ; 

25.  So  t.s'  this  great  and  wide  sea,  wherein  are 
things  creeping  innumerable,  both  small  and  great 
beasts. 


164  REMARKS. 

26.  There  go  the  ships  ;  there  is  that  leviathan, 
whom  thou  hast  made  to  play  therein. 

27.  These  wait  all  upon  thee,  that  thou  mayst 
give  them  their  meat  in  due  season. 

28.  That  thou  givest  them  they  gather  :  thou 
openest  thy  hand,  they  are  filled  with  good. 

King  David,  it  seems,  did  not  think  it  a 
ship,  or  a  whirlpool.  It  would  certainly 
be  an  interesting  sight  to  see  a  whirlpool 
or  a  ship  eating  meat?  The  definition, 
again,  regards  this  passage  in  the  sense  of 
a  cruel  enemy  (as  this  serpent  is  undoubt 
edly  far  more  cruel  than  the  whale),  and  re 
fers  us  to  Ps.  Ixxiv.  14,  Isaiah  li.  9,  Ezra 
xxix.  3, xxxii.  2,  3.  Bochart  Ilieroz.,  P.  II. 
Lib.V.  cap.  xvi.,  xviii.  Here  we  must  pause 
a  moment  to  see  what  Pontoppidan,  the 
Bishop  of  Bergen,  says  with  regard  to  these 
passages  of  Scripture,  and  also  what  is  his 
opinion  with  regard  to  what  Bochart  says 
on  this  subject,  which  he  gives  in  section 
9,  p.  106,  of  his  Natural  History  of  Nor 
way,  as  follows : 

"  The  supposition  that  the  Sea-Snake 
answers  the  description  of  the  leviathan 
better  than  any  other  animal  yet  known, 


•         REMARKS.  165 

and  may  be  understood  by  the  leviathan, 
or  the  crooked  serpent  (Isaiah  xxvii.  1) 
that  shall  slay  the  dragon  that  is  in  the 
sea,  or  that  it  may  be  the  long  serpent 
mentioned  in  Job  xxvi.  13,  is  not  without 
some  foundation." 

I  insert  here  the  12th  and  13th  verses 
from  that  chapter  : 

' '  He  divideth  the  sea  with  his  power, 
and  by  his  understanding  he  smite th  through 
the  proud.  By  his  spirit  he  hath  garnished 
the  heavens  ;  his  hand  hath  formed  the 
crooked  serpent." 

Again,  Pontoppidan  says,  in  the  same 
place  :  "  That  it  is  the  Pier  tiny -Serpent,  or 
the  Boom-serpent  (serpens  vectis,  according 
to  some  authors),  is  not  improbable  ;  for 
they  often  lie  stretched  out  before  a  creek, 
like  a  boom,  to  block  the  passage.  If  Bo- 
chart  had  had  any  knowledge  of  this  crea 
ture,  which  is  very  little  known  anywhere 
but  in  the  North,  he  probably  would  not 
have  taken  the  whale  to  be  the  leviathan. 
*  Cetum  Hebrsei  iisdem  nominibus  appellant 
quibus  Draconem,  nempe,  Thannin  et  Le- 


166  REMARKS. 

viathan,  ant  ob  formee  similitudinem,  aut 
ratione  molis,  et  quia  cetus  in  aquatilibus 
tantum  prrcstat,  quantum  in  reptilibus  prses- 
tant  virtute  Dracones.'  (Hierozoic,  Lib. 
I.  cap.  vi.  p.  45.)  The  similitude  of  shape 
which  writers  urge  betwixt  the  whale  and 
the  dragon,  is  what  I  cannot  find  out  ;  nor 
can  I  discover  how  this  author  (whom  I 
otherwise  esteem  as  one  of  the  most  learned 
men  the  world  ever  produced)  comes  to 
say  in  the  same  place,  '  Balsenam  multi  vo- 
lunt.  ideo  dici  rrn  crD  Serpentem  vectis 
(Isaiah  xxvii.  1),  quod  ab  uno  maris  extreme 
ad  alterum,  vectis  instar,  attingat.'  This 
does  not  at  all  agree  with  the  whale,  which 
is  usually  but  fifty,  seventy,  or  at  most, 
eighty  feet  in  length  ;  at  least  not  near  so 
well  as  with  the  Sea-Snake."  Here  Pon- 
toppidan  states  that  the  length  of  the  Sea- 
Serpent  is  variously  estimated,  by  fisher 
men  and  others,  to  be  from  one  hundred 
to  two  hundred  feet,  and  he  informs  us 
that  some  fishermen  think  him  six  hun 
dred  feet  long.  He  thinks  that  two  or 
more  of  these  snakes  follow  each  other  in 


HEM  ARKS.  167 

a  line,  as  they  have  been  seen  to  extend 
to  great  lengths.  And  then  he  observes 
further,  that,  "what  the  word  of  God 
says,  in  the  place  already  cited,  of  the 
leviathan,  namely,  that  it  is  both  a  Pole- 
serpent  and  a  Crooked-serpent, — that  is,  he 
is  soon  bent  in  a  curve,  and  soon  stretched 
again  in  a  straight  line,  —  agrees  perfectly 
with  this  Sea-snake,  according  to  what 
has  already  been  said." 

But  I  must  go  on  with  the  definition. 
The  next  meaning  given  is  "to  roll,  Germ. 
r  alien  t  to  wind,"  &c.  I  also  find,  in  a  more 
critical  lexicon,  byGuilelmus  Gesenius,  that 
this  word,  leviathan,  is  defined  in  Latin  as 
follows  ;  "  (Animal)  flexum,  in  spiras  con- 
volutum.  1.  serpens,  &c.  2.  spec,  croc- 
odilus.  (Job  xl.  25,  &c.)  3.  qusevis  bel- 
lua  magna  aquatilis.  (Ps.  civ.  26.)  [This 
passage  I  have  already  given.]  Eaque  pro 
hoste  attroce.  (Ps.  Ixxiv.  13  and  14.)"  I 
insert  these  two  verses  also  :  "  Thou  didst 
divide  the  sea  by  thy  strength  :  thou 
breakest  the  heads  of  the  dragons  in  the 
waters.  Thou  breakest  the  heads  of  levi- 


168  REMARKS. 

athan  in  pieces,  and  gavest  him  to  be  meat 
to  the  people  inhabiting  the  wilderness." 
Now  it  can  hardly  be  presumed  that  the 
children  of  Israel  were  to  eat  either  drag 
ons,  serpents,  or  crocodiles  ;  in  fact,  these 
verses  cannot  be  taken  literally,  for  we  are 
referred  by  the  commentator  to  the  14th 
chapter  of  Numbers,  where  Joshua  tells 
the  children  of  Israel  that  they  shall  pre 
vail  over  the  Hittites,  the  Jebusites,  and 
the  Amorites,  in  the  9th  verse.  "  Only 
rebel  not  ye  against  the  Lord,  neither  fear 
ye  the  people  of  the  land  :  for  they  are 
bread  for  us :  their  defence  is  departed 
from  them,  and  the  Lord  is  with  us  :  fear 
them  not."  Now,  nobody  supposes  that  the 
children  of  Israel  were  cannibals,  and  that 
they  meant  to  eat  the  Ilittites,  the  Jebu 
sites,  and  the  Amorites  for  bread,  any  more 
than  they  were  to  eat  the  crocodile,  the 
dragon,  or  the  leviathan  for  meat.  The 
Bible  simply  means  to  tell  us  here,  that  the 
people  of  the  land  flowing  with  milk  and 
honey  would  be  destroyed  by  them,  as  the 
hosts  of  Pharaoh  were  destroyed  in  the 


REMARKS.  169 

Red  Sea,  or  the  same  as  the  Lord  broke 
"  the  heads  of  leviathan  in  pieces."  But 
to  conclude  this  argument,  I  shall  insist 
that  the  leviathan  cannot  be  a  crocodile, 
because  crocodiles  only  swim  in  fresh  water, 
arid  the  leviathan  is  usually  mentioned  as 
swimming  in  the  sea.  But  commentators 
say  that  the  sea  means  in  some  cases  the 
river  Nile,  and,  as  there  were  plenty  of 
crocodiles  in  the  Nile,  and  the  41st  chapter 
of  Job,  30th  verse,  declares  that  the*levia- 
than  comes  on  shore,  therefore  the  levia 
than  is  a  crocodile.  Well,  it  is  a  comfort 
to  find  that  we  are  no  longer  contending 
with  a  whale  or  a  whirlpool  ;  for  I  presume 
that  it  is  very  rare  to  meet  with  either  the 
one  or  the  other  on  shore.  Commentators 
(even  the  most  learned)  seem  to  be  a  little 
in  doubt  as  to  the  true  meaning  of  this 
word  leviathan.  The  best  Hebrew  scholars 
are  well  aware  that  it  means  a  serpent,  for 
this  is  the  first  definition  given  in  the  He 
brew  lexicon  ;  yet  they  have  decided  not 
to  translate  the  word  in  the  text,  but  to  let 
it  stand  almost  in  the  original  Hebrew,  that 
15 


1YO  BEMARKS. 

people  may  speculate  on  its  true  meaning  ; 
or  have  been  satisfied  by  giving  a  note  or 
two,  sometimes  filled  with  the  most  various 
learning,  but  too  often  so  absurd  as  to  call 
into  play  the  tongue  of  satire,  or  the  keen 
shafts  of  ridicule.  I  must  tell  a  story  in 
this  connection,  and  I  am  done  ;  for,  driven 
as  I  am  by  commentators  from  the  sea  to 
the  river,  which  they  contend  is  the  sea, 
and  therefore  decide  that  they  must  have  a 
leviathan  in  the  river  also  (a  wish  on  their 
part  perfectly  natural),  I  intend  to  gratify 
them  by  giving  them  a  well-authenticated 
serpent,  in  a  river  in  Egypt,  that  will  an 
swer  the  description  in  Job  far  better  than 
the  crocodile. 

"Diodorus  Siculus,  Lib.  III.,  relates  of 
a  serpent  in  Egypt,  sixty  feet  long,  which, 
though  but  small  in  comparison  of  those  we 
have  been  speaking  of,  yet  was  in  appear 
ance  too  large  to  be  caught  and  carried 
alive  to  Alexandria,  to  be  presented  to 
King  Ptolemy  the  Second.  This  great 
prince  was  eminent  for  his  curiosity.  He 
was  desirous  of  seeing  everything  that  was 


KEMARKS.  171 

strange  or  scarce.  Those  that  brought  him 
elephants,  or  any  other  uncommon  animals, 
were  liberally  rewarded.  By  this  means 
the  Greeks  became  acquainted  with  many 
things  that  were  before  utterly  unknown 
to  them.  Such  a  laudable  curiosity,  and 
so  noble  a  spirit  in  a  king,  to  reward  all 
those  that  contributed  to  please  and  instruct 
him,  prevailed  upon  a  company  of  hunts 
men  to  attempt  to  bring  him  the  aforesaid 
great  serpent,  which  LIVED  CHIEFLY  in  the 
WATER,  but  strayed  ashore  from  its  proper 
element  a  considerable  distance  every  day, 
to  make  a  prey  of  the  farmers'  cattle  for 
his  subsistence.  Their  first  attack,  which 
was  very  vigorous,  failed,  as  the  historian 
says,  and  cost  about  twenty  of  them  their 
lives ;  but,  as  the  rest  grew  more  experi 
enced  by  this  loss,  they  would  not  relin 
quish  their  enterprise,  being  in  hopes  of 
receiving  a  greater  reward  in  case  they 
should  succeed.  They  conquered  it  at  last 
by  making  a  large  net,  of  very  strong  ropes, 
and  watching  their  opportunity  when  the 
creature  went  out  in  search  of  prey  ;  then 


172  REMARKS. 

they  stopped  up  the  way  it  usually  took  in 
its  return,  and  made  a  kind  of  defile, 
through  which  it  was  obliged  to  pass.  At 
the  end  of  this  they  placed  the  net,  and 
drove  the  monster  into  it.  When  they  had 
thus  secured  it,  they  carried  it  to  the  king, 
who  gave  them  a  reward  suited  to  the 
strangeness  of  the  creature  and  the  hazard 
of  their  enterprise.  The  serpent  was  saved 
to  be  a  sight  for  strangers  who  visited 
Ptolemy's  court,  and  had  every  day  a  large 
allowance  of  proper  food." — PONTOPPIDAN, 
Natural  History  of  Norway,  sec.  10,  page 
209. 

Now,  may  not  this  be  the  leviathan  men 
tioned  in  the  Book  of  Job  ? 

E.  B. 

CAMBRIDGE,  1857. 


LETTERS,    FACTS,  AND  EXTRACTS   FROM 
NEWSPAPERS. 

181?. 

BOSTON,  August  18. 

MONSTROUS  SERPENT.  —  We  have  seen  several 
letters  from  Gloucester,  which  describe  a  prodi 
gious  snake  that  has  made  its  appearance  in  Cape 
Ann  harbor.  It  was  first  seen  at  some  distance 
from  shore  by  some  fishermen,  ten  or  twelve  days 
ago  ;  but  it  was  then  generally  believed  to  be  the 
creature  of  the  imagination,  and  of  the  family 

"  Of  that  huge  snake  tremendous,  curled, 
Whose  monstrous  circle  girds  the  world." 

But  he  has  since  come  within  the  harbor  of 
Gloucester,  and  has  been  seen  by  hundreds  of 
people.  He  is  declared  by  some  persons,  who 
approached  within  ten  or  fifteen  yards  of  him,  to 
be  sixty  or  seventy  feet  in  length  ;  round,  and  of 
the  diameter  of  a  barrel.  Others  state  his  length 
variously,  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  feet.  His 
motions  are  serpentine,  extremely  varied,  and 
exceedingly  rapid.  He  turns  himself  completely 
round  almost  instantaneously.  He  sometimes 
15* 


174  LETTERS   AND    EXTRACTS. 

darts  forward  with  his  head  out  of  water,  at  the 
rate  of  a  mile  in  three  minutes,  leaving  a  wake 
behind  him  of  half  a  mile  in  length.  Ilis  head,  as 
large  as  the  head  of  a  horse,  is  shaped  somewhat 
like  that  of  a  large  dog,  is  raised  about  eight  feet 
out  of  water,  arid  is  partly  white,  the  other  part 
black.  He  appears  to  be  full  of  joints,  and  resem 
bles  a  string  of  buoys  on  a  net-rope,  as  set  in  the 
water  to  catch  herring.  Others  describe  him  as 
like  a  string  of  water-casks.  His  back  is  black. 
Various  attempts  have  been  made,  without  suc 
cess,  to  take  him.  Four  boats  went  out  oil 
Thursday,  filled  with  adventurous  sailors  and 
experienced  gunners,  armed  with  muskets,  har 
poons,  &c.  Three  muskets  were  discharged  at 
him  from  a  distance  of  thirty  feet ;  two  balls  were 
thought  to  strike  his  head,  but  without  effect. 
He  immediately  after  plunged  into  the  water,  and 
disappeared  for  a  short  time,  after  which  he 
moved  off  to  the  outer  harbor,  and  was  seen  no 
more  that  night.  A  number  of  persons  are  em 
ployed  in  making  a  net  of  cod-lines,  of  sufficient 
strength  and  size  to  take  him.  It  is  conjectured 
that  he  has  resorted  to  this  harbor  for  the  purpose 
of  preying  upon  a  very  numerous  shoal  of  her 
rings,  which  have  lately  appeared  there.  If  he 
has  been  instrumental,  as  is  supposed,  in  driving 
these  herring  into  the  harbor,  he  has  rendered  an 
essential  service  to  the  town. 


LETTERS   AND    EXTRACTS.  175 

THE  editor  of  the  New  York  Gazette  "  gravely  " 
affects  to  doubt  the  existence  of  the  sea-monster 
on  our  coast.  Perhaps  he  has  yet  to  learn  that 
it  is  as  much  the  part  of  folly  to  doubt,  in  the  face 
of  abundant  and  unquestionable  evidence,  as  it  is 
to  listen  with  credulity  to  vague  and  improbable 
rumors. 

1820. 

SALEM,  August  11. 

A  SEA-SERPENT.  —  In  our  last  paper  we  men 
tioned  the  receht  appearance  of  the  Sea-Serpent 
at  Phillips'  Beach,  and  at  the  same  time  stated 
to  the  public  the  sources  of  our  information  and 
the  grounds  of  our  belief.  The  Register,  in  a  sum 
mary  and  dogmatical  style,  attempts  to  discredit 
our  statement ;  our  assertions  are,  however,  con 
troverted  only  by  the  authority  of  some  anony 
mous  "friend."  But,  as  the  public  cannot  be 
expected  to  pin  its  faith  on  the  bold  assertions 
of  any  editor  or  "  friend,"  facts  only  are  entitled 
to  attention. 

Since  our  last,  inquiries  have  again  been  made 
of  the  persons  whom  we  named,  and  they  have 
now  confirmed  by  solemn  depositions  the  state 
ment  we  published.  Messrs.  Lewis,  King,  Rey 
nolds,  and  Ingalls,  are  men  of  intelligence  and 
credibility ;  when  they  relate  what  they  aver 
they  saw,  we  believe  them. 

In  the  opinion  of  some,  however,  to  be  incred- 


176  LETTERS   AND   EXTRACTS. 

ulous  is  to  be  wise.  The  subject,  we  are  aware, 
is  interesting  to  the  public,  especially  to  natural 
ists  ;  and,  wishing  not  to  trifle  with  what  is 
serious,  we  have  taken  the  pains  to  put  in  an 
authentic  shape  the  information  we  have  gath 
ered,  which  we  now  publish.  —  Gazette. 

I,  Andrew  Reynolds,  of  Lynn,  of  lawful  age, 
depose  arid  say,  —  That,  on  Saturday,  the  fifth 
day  of  August,  inst.,  about  one  o'clock,  ?.  M.,  I 
discovered  in  the  water  near  Phillips'  Beach,  at 
Swampscot,  an  animal  different  from  any  that  I 
had  ever  seen  before  ;  he  was  lying  on  the  sur 
face  of  the  water,  which  was  at  that  time  very 
smooth,  and  appeared  to  be  about  fifty  or  sixty 
feet  long. 

Jona.  B.  Lewis,  and  Benj.  King,  who  work  in 
the  same  shop  with  me,  also  saw  him ;  and  we 
took  a  boat  and  rowed  towards  him ;  we  ap 
proached  within  about  thirty  yards  of  him,  and 
had  a  very  distinct  view  of  him.  lie  had  a  head 
about  two  feet  long,  and  shaped  somewhat  like 
an  egg,  which  he  carried  out  of  the  water  when 
he  was  moving.  There  were  several  protuber 
ances  on  his  back,  the  highest  points  of  which 
appeared  to  be  seven  or  eight  inches  above  the 
level  of  the  water.  He  was  perfectly  black. 
When  we  first  drew  towards  him,  he  was  moving 
westerly  from  Phillips'  Point,  and,  as  we  drew 
near  to  him,  he  turned  and  moved  to  the  east- 


LETTERS   AND    EXTRACTS.  177 

ward  ;  and,  when  we  got  within  about  thirty 
yards  of  him,  he  sunk  under  water  and  dis 
appeared.  ANDREW  REYNOLDS. 

ESSEX,  ss.  August  10, 1820.  —  Subscribed  and 
sworn  to  before 

JOHN  PRINCE,  Jun.,  Jus.  Pads. 

I,  Jona.  B.  Lewis,  of  Lynn,  of  lawful  age,  de 
pose  and  say,  —  That  I  went  in  the  boat  with 
Andrew  Reynolds  and  Benj.  King,  to  see  the 
animal  described  by  said  Reynolds  in  his  deposi 
tion,  and  that  the  description  of  him  therein  given 
is  correct.  As  I  was  rowing,  I  had  not  so  good 
an  opportunity  of  viewing  him  as  Mr.  King  had, 
who  sat  in  the  stern-sheets  with  his  face  towards 
him  all  the  time.  JONA.  B.  LEWIS. 

ESSEX,  ss.  August  10, 1820.  —  Subscribed  and 
sworn  to  before 

JOHN  PRINCE,  Jun.,  Jus.  Pads. 

I,  Benjamin  King,  of  Lynn,  of  lawful  age,  de 
pose  and  say,  —  That,  on  Saturday,  August  5th, 
I  went  out  in  a  boat  with  Andrew  Reynolds  and 
Jonathan  B.  Lewis,  to  see  the  animal  described  in 
said  Reynolds'  deposition.  I  had  a  perfectly  good 
view  of  him,  and  his  description  of  him  is  correct. 
I  counted  twenty-three  protuberances  on  him 
distinctly  visible  at  once  ;  I  judged  him  to  be 
about  seventy  feet  long.  I  sat  in  the  stern  of 


178  LETTERS   AND    EXTRACTS. 

the  boat,  and  had  a  better  opportunity  of  seeing 
him  than  the  others,  who  were  rowing. 

BENJAMIN  KING. 

ESSEX,  ss.  August  10,  1820.  —  Subscribed  and 
sworn  to  before 

JOHN  PRINCE,  Jun.,  Jus.  Pads. 

I,  Joseph  Ingalls,  of  Lynn,  of  lawful  age,  de 
pose  and  say,  —  That,  on  Saturday,  August  5th, 
I  saw  the  animal  described  by  Mr.  Reynolds  and 
the  others  who  went  with  him  in  the  boat.  I  saw 
him  from  my  shop,  which  is  on  the  water's  edge  ; 
I  judged  him  to  be  about  twenty  feet  long  ;  but, 
when  the  young  men  returned  to  the  shop,  we 
had  a  conversation  about  him,  and  they  said, 
that,  as  they  di'ew  near  to  him,  he  appeared 
much  longer  than  he  did  when  they  saw  him 
from  the  shop.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  descrip 
tion  they  have  given  of  him  is  correct. 

JOSEPH  INGALLS. 

ESSEX,  ss.  August  10,  1820.  —  Subscribed  and 
sworn  to  before 

JOHN  PRINCE,  Jun.,  Jus.  Pads. 

1823. 

A  SEA-SERPENT.  —  I,  Francis  Johnson,  Jr.,  tes 
tify,  that,  in  going  into  the  harbor  from  Nahant, 
July  12, 1823,  at  9  A.  M.,  I  saw  standing  into  Lynn 


LETTERS    AND    EXTRACTS.  179 

harbor  something  in  the  water  resembling1  a  row 
of  porpoises.  I  then  supposed  it  to  be  such,  and 
forbore  to  notice  it.  About  two  hours  after 
wards,  I  heard  a  noise  in  the  water,  and  saw, 
about  four  rods  distant,  something  resembling 
the  head  of  a  fish  or  serpent,  elevated  about  two 
feet  above  the  surface,  followed  by  seven  or  eight 
bunches,  the  fh'st  about  six  feet  from  the  head,  all 
about  six  feet  apart,  and  raised  about  six  inches 
above  the  water.  It  stood  eastwardly  at  the  rate 
of  five  miles  an  hour,  with  an  undulating  motion, 
like  that  of  a  caterpillar.  Its  color  was  dark,  like 
that  of  a  shark  or  porpoise.  I  pursued  it  about 
a  mile,  being  in  a  small  fishing-boat,  and  had  a 
fair  view  of  it  for  about  thirty  minutes,  the  water 
being  smooth,  and  the  sky  clear ;  and  then  lost 
sight  of  it,  supposing  it  to  dive  beneath  the  sur 
face.  I  believe  it  to  be  what  I  took  for  a  row  of 
porpoises  two  hours  before.  I  am  about  twenty 
years  of  age  ;  was  born  and  have  always  lived  at 
Nahant ;  have  been  constantly  employed  in  fish 
ing  ;  have  seen  every  species  of  fish  accustomed 
to  visit  our  coast,  but  never  saw  anything  resem 
bling  this.  I  have  heretofore  constantly  doubted 
the  existence  of  the  Sea-Serpent,  but  now  firmly 
believe  what  I  saw  to  be  the  animal  hitherto  de 
scribed  as  such. 

(Signed)  FRANCIS  JOHNSON,  Jr. 

Nahant,  July  12,  1823. 

We  hereby  certify  that  the  above  statement 


180  LETTERS    AND    EXTRACTS. 

was  given  in  our  presence  ;  and,  from  our  knowl 
edge  of  the  character  of  Mr.  Johnson,  we  have 
no  doubt  of  his  veracity. 

(Signed)  H.  A.  S.  DEARBORN, 

NATH.  AMORY, 
SIDNEY  BARTLETT, 
THOS.  WETMORE, 
RICH'D  D.  HARRIS, 
RUSSELL  JARVIS. 

I  certify  that  Francis  Johnson,  Jr.,  made  the 
same  report  to  me,  previous  to  his  landing  at 
Nahant.  J.  S.  DORR. 

Nahant,  July  12,  1823.  [Boston,  Patriot. 


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